


Eileen Snape and the Philosopher's Stone

by rosallj



Series: Eileen Snape in Hogwarts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, POV Original Character, Severus Snape has a daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 60,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosallj/pseuds/rosallj
Summary: Eileen Snape is 11 years old and will begin her first year at Hogwarts, where she will live adventures she would never have imagined; she will deal with the different ideals between her and her family, all the problems that come with being friends with the boy who lived during the next seven years and ah, yes, being the daughter of Severus Snape.
Series: Eileen Snape in Hogwarts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901071
Comments: 17
Kudos: 32





	1. Year One - Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fanfiction story based in the world of Harry Potter. All the elements from this universe belong to J.K. Rowling. I reserve the right to the characters and plot that do not belong in the original universe of Harry Potter. This story may not be reproduced or imitated. It may not be published in another site. It will be only available here and in Fanfiction.net in English and the Spanish version is in Wattpad. Please report to me here if you see it in any other place. I will try to fit the story in the canon story of the books, but I will make some changes.
> 
> English is not my first language, so I apologize if any sentence sounds weird. I would appreciate any correction.

—What if I'm a squib?

—You are not a squib, Eileen.

—But how can you be so sure? My letter hasn't arrived, must be because I'm a squib.

—I'm completely sure that you are not a squib, I still remember the day that you started doing accidental magic and you set up on fire all my clothes. Now, eat your dinner or it will get cold.

I sighed and kept eating my scrambled eggs. It was almost the end of July and I still haven't got my Hogwarts letter which means just one thing: I'm a squib. At the end of my dinner, I got up from the table, ready to go to my bedroom.

—Clean your plate.

—Why? I don't have to do that at the Malfoy's, that's what the elves do.

—Do you see an elf around here?

—Ugh!

I took my plate and went to the kitchen and cleaned it as fast as I could, I'm not even sure if I cleaned it well. I was so used to the life that I have at the house of my aunt and uncle that I completely forget that here I have to do things like cleaning my room or wash the dishes.

Well, they are not really my aunt and my uncle, we are not related by blood but they are my godparents and I spent so much time with them that I basically felt like family.

My Aunt Cissy and my Uncle Lucius are a _'little bit'_ eccentric and very serious most of the time, but they accepted to take care of me since I was a baby so that my father could go to work, so despite being the way they are, I know that they love me as if I were their own daughter, in their own way, but they love me.

—Can I go to my room now or are you going to make me do more elf work?

—It was all, but if you want more elf work…

—Nope! Bye, dad.

I ran up the stairs and locked myself in my room. Since it's summer, I left the window open so that the room wasn't so hot and I was surprised to see not one but two owls!

I took the first letter from a beautiful black owl which I knew belonged to my Aunt Cissy, but the letter was from my cousin Draco.

_Eileen._

_I got my letter yesterday, have you gotten yours? Mother says we will be going to Diagon Alley this Wednesday to buy everything from the list and she wants to know if you are coming with us._

_Draco Malfoy._

I took the second letter a little nervous, unlike my aunt's owl, it flew away without waiting for a response. I let out a little shriek when I saw the big H in the envelope.

_Eileen Evan Snape_

_Spinner's End._

_Second floor, first room to the right._

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class,_

_Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump,_

_International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Ms Snape, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. The term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall._

_Deputy Headmistress._

—Yes! Finally!

I ran down the stairs and almost fell at the end, but I managed to grab the railing and regained my balance; when I was sure I was not going to fall again I ran again and went to the living room where my dad is always reading a book.

—It's here! —I entered the room, waving the letter in my hand and jumping a little. — Here's the letter! See? I told you I'm not a squib. —I said while sticking out my tongue and handing the letter to him.

—So silly of me to think that you were one. —He said in his typical sarcastic tone while analyzing the letter and reading the list of materials that I'm going to need.

—I also got a letter from Draco, he got the letter yesterday and they are going to buy everything next week, can I go with them?

—I don't see why not.

—Thanks!

I hugged him hard and returned to my room, I sat in the chair next to my small desk, grabbed a bit of parchment, and started to write.

_Draco,_

_I just got my letter! I can't wait to get there and get both sorted into Slytherin, the best house of all. My father gave me permission to go with you and buy everything. See you this Wednesday._

_Eileen Snape._

I finished the letter and gave it to my aunt's owl, I watched it fly for a couple of seconds, turning into a smaller and smaller point to finally, disappear; when I couldn't see it anymore I jumped in my bed, laughing.

I'm going to Hogwarts!

* * *

Wednesday arrived slower than I expected, but it was finally here. I got up at 7 in the morning, an hour earlier than usual, but I was so excited that I couldn't wait.

I showered and put on one of the many dresses that Aunt Cissy bought for me, although I never complained, truth is I loved all of them. This one was a short dress that reached my knees, it was made of silk and had short sleeves, plus a white collar that stood out since the rest of the dress was black (like almost all my dresses, which if they weren't black, they were dark green). I combed my hair and even though the weather was a little warm I left my hair loose, which reached to my waist.

I went down to the dining room and saw that my father had already made breakfast, so I sat down quickly to start eating.

—Eating fast will not make time go faster. It's not your first time going there, why are you so excited?

—I'b swrry.

—Do not eat with your mouth full.

—I'm sorry. And no, you're right, it's not my first time, but it is my first time going there to buy everything for Hogwarts! Besides, every time we were there we would only visit Florean Fortescue and sometimes Twilfit and Tattings, but not other places.

I kept eating while my father read The Daily Prophet and drank his coffee. When I finished eating my last sausage I got up to clean my plate, I was trying to be perfect in everything to prevent my father from not letting me go to Diagon Alley today.

After waiting another hour 'reading' a book, I finally saw green flames appear in the chimney and just a couple of seconds later Aunt Cissy was now in the living room, I got up quickly from the sofa and hugged her.

—Hello, Aunt Cissy!

—Hello, darling, are you ready to go to Diagon Alley?

—Eileen was so excited that I had to calm her by saying that she was not going today. Good morning, Narcissa.

—Good morning, Severus, thank you for letting her go, we will come back around 3. Come, sweetie. Lucius and Draco are waiting for us.

—Great, see you later, dad.

I grabbed my aunt's hand and we apparated in an alley close to the Leaking Cauldron, when we entered the bar I felt a little bit intimidated, there was almost no light and the people there were a little bit creepy, drinking and smoking; I tried to stay close to my aunt as much as I could and luckily she put her hand on my shoulder and I felt a little bit more secure.

—Aunt Cissy, why did we apparate outside?

—It's dangerous to apparate in Diagon Alley when everyone is buying their stuff for Hogwarts, we could cause an accident.

We walked to a brick wall and she tapped one brick three times, right after a small hole appeared in the wall, but then it turned into a large archway; when we passed through the archway I saw Draco and Uncle Lucius in a store that sold cauldrons.

—Hi Draco, hi Uncle Lucius.

—Hey Leen, have you read the materials list? I can't believe that the first years can't have their own brooms.

—No, I didn't read it, we really can't have our own brooms?

—No and father says that we also can't be in the Quidditch team until our second year. Oh, and we already bought some of your stuff, by the way.

—Oh, yeah, great…

We got out of the store and went to Madam Malkins while uncle Lucius was buying our books, I was starting to feel a little bit disappointed that I couldn't go myself to buy the books, but I couldn't complain.

—Well, children, stay here and buy your robes, I'll wait for you in Ollivanders.

—All right, mother. Come, Leen, let's go.

We entered the store and when the door opened I heard a little chime and a woman with white hair and blue eyes wearing a light purple dress appeared behind a counter.

—Good day, darlings, you must be young Malfoy, yes? Your parents sent me a letter saying that you would come today. And you are?

—I'm…

—She's my cousin.

—Oh, great, great… Well, come and get on these stools, please, my assistant will start measuring you.

We got on the wooden stools and a girl around her twenties started measuring of robes.

—Ow! Be more careful with that needle if you don't want my father to hear about this.

—Gosh Draco, you're a baby.

I laughed at the face that Draco made and heard the chimes again, a boy our age with glasses, dark hair, and clothes way too big for his size entered the store. He stood on the stool next to Draco and Madam Malkin started to measure him.

—Hello. —Said Draco.— Hogwarts, too?

—Yeah.

—Great. My father is buying our books and my mother is looking at wands. After that, I'll drag them off to see the racing brooms and make them buy me one, I'll smuggle it into Hogwarts somehow. I don't see why the first years can't have their own broom, it's ridiculous. Do you have your own broom?

—No.

—Do you even play quidditch?

—No.

—Draco, stop nagging him with questions. Hey, ignore my cousin, he's an idiot.

—I'm not an idiot, Eileen. Anyway, know in which house you'll be?

—No.

—Well, no one really knows 'till we're there, but we will be in Slytherin, right, Eileen?

—Yeah, can you imagine being a Hufflepuff? I think my father would kill me.

—We all would be disappointed but I think he would kill you if you were a dumb Gryff— wow! Look at that man!

The boy and I turned to look at the window, outside there was a gigantic man with hair and beard that covered almost all his face and he was holding two ice creams.

—That's Hagrid. —Said the boy.— He works at Hogwarts.

—Oh, I've heard about him, he's a servant, isn't he?

—Gamekeeper.

I decided to stay out of the conversation, I could see that he was starting to dislike us and if we end up in the same house it could be a problem.

—It's the same. I've heard that he's a savage, lives in a hut, and gets drunk from time to time, tries to do magic, and ends upsetting everything on fire.

—I think he's cool.

—You do? And why he's with you? Where are your parents?

—They're dead.

—Oh, I'm sorry. —I rolled my eyes, Draco always knew how to get us into bad or uncomfortable situations. Or both. — But they were our kind, weren't they?

—Draco! —I hit him in the head, if he kept being an idiot it was going to get him in a lot of trouble.

—They were a witch and a wizard if that's what you mean.

—Good. All the other ones shouldn't be allowed to go to Hogwarts, they are not like us, some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they got the letter. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. By the way, you never told us your surname.

—You are ready, dear. —Madam Malkin handed him his robes and he didn't answer Draco's question.

—Well, see you at Hogwarts, I guess.

He got out of the store and after a while our robes were ready so we walked up the street to Ollivanders and aunt Cissy was still waiting for us.

—What took you so long?

—I'm sorry, Aunt Cissy, the girl measuring our robes just took too long. I guess she didn't know how to do it.

We walked into the store, the place was small and full of dust, there was just a single chair in the corner but it was also full of dust so Aunt Cissy decided to not sit down. Like in Madam Malkins, a bell rang somewhere in the back of the store when we entered and a pale man with silvery eyes and white hair appeared from behind some wand boxes.

—Good afternoon.

—Good afternoon. My son and my goddaughter are here for their wands.

—Of course, of course, come here, young man…

Draco walked close to the man, and Ollivander started checking all thousand of the boxes that he had.

—Try this one.

He grabbed the wand and nothing happened, he kept trying one after another for several minutes until finally, he grabbed one and when he waved it, sparkles of different colours came out of the end of the wand.

—Excellent, Mister Malfoy, this one is 10" long, made of hawthorn wood, and a unicorn hair core. Lady, your turn.

When I walked up to him, he started doing the same procedure he did with Draco. I was getting tired after my 10th wand but when I grabbed another one my fingers felt warm and when I waved it, red and green sparkles came out of the end of the wand.

—Ah, very well, miss…?

—Snape.

—Oh, interesting… Well, this one is 12 ½", made with yew and dragon heartstring core.

—What's interesting, mister Ollivander? —I saw the looked he gave my aunt, like asking for permission for something but he quickly put his gaze on me.

—Nothing, young lady, just the meaningless words of an old man.

My aunt paid for the wands and we left the store, I wanted to know what Ollivander meant with 'interesting' and why he looked at my aunt like that, but I knew that if I asked her, she was going to say the same thing, so I stayed quiet and decided to ask my father later.

We found Uncle Lucius outside of Florean Fortescue, waiting for us and Draco started saying why it was dumb that we couldn't have a broom and kept whining for 10 minutes asking them to buy him the Nimbus 2000.

—Even if I buy you a new one, Draco, you cannot take it to school, you would have to leave it in the Manor the whole year and you wouldn't be able to use it. Just wait next year and I'll buy you two the newest brooms.

—Wow, will you buy one me as well? That's cool, thanks!

After they bought us ice cream in Florean Fortescue, (Draco bought a chocolate-mint one and I bought a vanilla one) Aunt Cissy and I apparated in an alley next to my house. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed because of the neighbourhood I lived, but thankfully I was never here most of the time, just in the summers, and I also never really spent a lot of the time outside so it was kind of easy to ignore that I lived here.

We entered the house and the first thing my aunt did was take all my shrunken stuff out of her bag, put them on the table, and turned them into their normal size. She said goodbye and then disappeared with a faint 'pop'. I sat next to my father on the couch where he was reading a book.

—How was your trip to Diagon Alley?

—It was great! First Aunt Cissy and I entered through the Leaky Cauldron, in Madam Malkins Draco and I met another boy who will be with us at Hogwarts, although he probably won't talk to us because Draco kept asking him a lot of questions and he looked kinda annoyed answering them, after that we went to Ollivanders for our wands and then we bought ice cream… Uncle Lucius also told us that next year, when we can have our own brooms, he will buy us the newest broom model!

—Sounds like an exciting day.

—Yeah, it was! Although I couldn't buy most of my stuff since Uncle Lucius did it, so I'm kind of disappointed… Oh! And when we were buying our wands, after I told Ollivander my surname, he said that mine was interesting, but when I asked him he only looked at Aunt Cissy, it was a little bit weird because it looked like he was asking permission for something, he only said that were the 'meaningless words of an old man' do you know why he said that?

—What is your wand made of?

—Oh, um, —From a hidden pocket in my dress I pulled out a piece of paper where I wrote what my wand was made of. —12 ½", made with yew and dragon heartstring core.

He thought for a couple of seconds, I knew something was going on in his mind like he was trying to remember something and then he looked at me the same way Ollivander had done.

—He probably just remembered mine, he is known for remembering each one of the wands he sells. Mine also has a dragon heartstring core.

—Really?

I didn't ask anything else, although I wasn't sure he was telling me the truth, I didn't know much about wands but I knew that the core of mine was extremely common, so I didn't see why that was interesting.

I put all my things away in the trunk that my father gave me, it was made with ebony wood and it had my initials written in silver. When I finished, I laid in my bed and started to read 'The Dark Arts Outsmarted', one of the books I pulled from my father's bookshelves. I always have been interested in the dark arts, not to be evil like the Dark Lord, but to understand them better, they are so interesting and I think it would be unwise to let them disappear.

I had asked my dad or my uncle several times to buy me books about the dark arts, but they always said no or the typical lie 'when you are older', so I was stuck with the ones my father had about how to defend yourself from them that I had read several times. This one was no exception, I had read it several times that I felt I could say it by heart, so it didn't take me long to fall asleep.


	2. Year One - Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo! I'm looking for a beta reader because I know I have a lot of grammar errors but after reading the chapter for the 10th time I just can't see them. So if anyone would like to help, please let me know.

—Do you have everything you need?

—Yes, dad.

—Did you put your books in your trunk?

—Yes, since the day I bought them.

—Remember that if you forget something I won't be able to give it to you.

—I know, dad.

—Your wand?

—For Merlin's pants, I've told you a thousand times I have everything ready, why are you so nervous?

—I'm not nervous, I only know my daughter and I know that you will end up forgetting something.

—Come on, you really think…? Oh, I don't have my wand.

My father looked at me with his usual _'I told you so'_ face and before he could say something, I ran upstairs to my room, it didn't take long to find my wand because I left it on the desk next to my bed, I left it there last night so I wouldn't forget it, funny isn't it?

—Well, I suppose now you have everything. I don't understand why you want to go on the train, you can simply apparate with me.

—Because that's when you make friends! Besides, it must be funny.

—Fine, I'll see you in a week, don't cause any trouble at the Malfoy Manor.

—I promise you I won't do anything bad.

I grabbed the flu powder, got into the chimney, and said _'Malfoy Manor'_ while dropping the powder, I was quickly wrapped in green flames and just a couple of seconds later I appeared in the living room.

Before I could react and get out of the chimney, Draco was already hugging me. I hadn't seen him since the day we went to Diagon Alley to buy our stuff and for some reason, he feels like that was ages ago.

—Draco… I can't… Breath…

—Oh, sorry, just, you know. I'm happy to see you again.

—Draco, I saw you a month ago, not a year ago!

—All right, you both can go and play a little, but I want you to come to dinner later. Eileen, you know that you don't have to worry about your trunk. Dobby will leave it in your room.

Dobby is the house-elf, sometimes I would feel bad for him because everyone here treats him bad and sometimes they yell at him even when he didn't do anything wrong, but there is not a lot I can do, he's a house-elf and they are here to serve us… Right? They are happy living in this way and it's the only thing they can do.

I followed Draco to the back garden and we passed next to a piece of console furniture that held a lot of pictures, some pictures where from the day Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius got married, others were from when Draco and I were little kids, but my favourite was the one where Aunt Cissy and my mother were hugging, waving their hands at the camera, and then laughing at something.

—You look so much like her.

—You think so, Aunt Cissy?

—Yes, you are clever, intelligent, mischievous, and not so fond of rules, just like her. Physically, you look a lot like your father, but thankfully you have your mother's nose.

We both chuckled, it was true, my nose is small and delicate in comparison to my father's large, hooked nose, but my eyes and my hair are as black as his, while my mother had light brown hair and hazel eyes, for what I've seen in pictures.

—Where is she now, Aunt Cissy?

—She's somewhere far away from here, darling.

—Why?

—You will know when you are older.

—That's what adults always say, _'when you're older'_ but we're never old enough, are we?

—Eileen! Are you coming to play or not?

I heard Draco's voice from the door that led to the garden, my aunt put her hand on my shoulder and then left. I walked to where Draco was and we went out into the huge garden, we started flying in our Comet 260. I love flying, it's awesome to feel the wind in my face although I never flew too high because I was afraid of falling.

—I can't believe my father didn't buy us the new Nimbus 2000, it's the best broom of all.

—At least we don't have a Cleansweeper 6, even I would get bored with how slow they are.

We started to play Quidditch... Or, well, the closest thing to Quidditch as we could, we both played like the Chaser and Keeper; instead of the three goals for each team, we only had one and it was created by four trees specifically planted for that, two on each side. Since we didn't have a Snitch either, we had decided that whoever scores 100 points with the Quaffle first, wins.

I've never been a huge Quidditch fan, but Draco loved it and kept talking about the game and his favourite teams all the time, so I was used to playing it and knew how to play it.

When we finished playing (as always, Draco beat me, finishing the game at 100-70) we returned to the mansion for dinner and it was almost completely silent as they have always been; sometimes, Aunt Cissy would ask us if we already had everything we would need in our trunks and she kept saying how proud she was of us for finally going to Hogwarts and how much we had grown since we were babies; a conversation that led to shameful stories about us as little kids.

While Draco and I were turning red with shame, they both were chuckling, although they appear to be very serious people, we knew how they really were and that they loved us very much, but they had an image to maintain, something I still couldn't fully understand, but it didn't bother me.

When dinner finally ended, I said goodbye to everyone and went up to my room to take a bath, then I put on my pyjamas and lay down on the bed, reading one of the several books that I had taken from the library they had in here.

* * *

—Leen, Leen, Eileen! Wake up!

—Hm? What do you want, Draco?

—You have to wake up now, we must have breakfast before going to the station.

—5 more minutes…

—You don't leave me any choice.

I regretted hearing those words, I already knew what was going to happen if I didn't get up, I opened my eyes only to see how Draco was next to the wall and started running in my direction, I didn't have time to move and I felt all his weight on top of me.

—Draco! Stop!

I said while laughing, he had not only thrown himself on the bed but was now tickling me too. After a few minutes, Draco finally left so I could get dressed.

The week went surprisingly faster than I thought, it was already September 1st, which meant that I was finally going to Hogwarts!

I put on a short-sleeved dress, it was silk, dark green and had small black flower designs on the folds of the skirt, I combed my hair in my favourite way, which was loose reaching down to my back.

I went down to the dining room and everyone was already there having breakfast, I sat next to Aunt Cissy and started eating my pancakes.

—What about you, Eileen? Excited to get to Hogwarts?

—Yes! I can't wait to spend more time with my father, although I'm going to miss being here, Aunt Cissy.

—Well, you can come to visit us over the Christmas holidays, you know you are always welcome.

—Thanks, I'm sure I'll come.

Breakfast continued a little calmer, I did not eat much as I always used to do, I was a little nervous and with each bite, I felt like I was going to vomit, so I only ate a pancake. When we were ready, the elves lowered our trunks and put them in the car that the Ministry lent to my uncle Lucius, in it we would arrive at King Cross station.

—Father, why can't we just apparate? I don't want to be around dirty muggles.

—I agree with you, Draco, but the station is a small place and full of many people, it would be difficult to appear.

I was about to get into the car when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

—Eileen, I need to speak to you for a moment.

—What is it, Aunt Cissy?

She gave me a small heart-shaped necklace, which when it opened revealed a photo of my parents in their school days, it seemed that my mother was talking about something with my father, and then she started laughing.

—I took it the picture when I was in my last year at Hogwarts, your father was in third and your mother in her second year. I know that she would love to be here with you and I know that if she were here, she would be very proud of you and would tell you that she loves you very much, and I too, dear, never forget it.

I couldn't take it anymore and a tear ran down my cheek, which I quickly wiped with my hand and went over to my Aunt Cissy, gave her a big hug, and then after whispering _'thank you'_ we got in the car.

I thank Merlin that we had a driver to take us, otherwise Draco would have gone all the way expressing his great hatred for muggles, but as uncle Lucius had told him, they had an image to uphold. I've never been a great muggle lover like Mr Weasley, (Uncle Lucius complained so much about him), but I don't hate them either, I just think they're boring.

We arrived at the station and the driver lowered our things to put them on two carts; we passed through so many muggles but they only paid attention to the newspaper or the square thing that they put in their ears and talked to them and they did not realize what was happening around them, although some looked at my aunt and uncle strangely, perhaps because they weren't going to dress as muggles did, so they were using robes.

I already knew that we would have to go through a wall that was in the middle of platforms 9 and 10, but I was still afraid that we would crash into the brick wall but to my surprise, we went through it as if there was no wall and on the other side were lots of families saying goodbye to their children.

My aunt and uncle were talking to Draco while I was trying to get my trunk on the train, which I was not succeeding because it was too heavy for me.

—Do you need help?

I turned to where the voice was coming from and was surprised to see two completely identical boys, tall and redheaded.

—Please? —Both boys took my trunk and helped me get it on the train. —Thank you! I am...

—Eileen!

—Oh. —They were both walking toward me and they seemed a little annoying. What did I do now? —What happened, Uncle Lucius?

They both stared at the twins, he looked at them with contempt while my aunt looked like she was smelling something dead, the boys, who were already on the train, left quickly.

—We just wanted to say goodbye to you, my dear. —Aunt Cissy said as she put her left hand on my cheek.— We will miss you very much.

—We also want to remind you, Eileen, that you shouldn't feel compelled to be with... Inferior people.

—Oh, okay...?

I got on the train, I looked out a window and waved goodbye when it started to move, I quickly forgot what I had been told before getting on the train since, to begin with, I did not consider anyone inferior to me... Well maybe the elves, but I very much doubt that I won't get to have friends to had to be with them.

I spent a few minutes looking for Draco in the compartments and when I found him I saw that he was with Pansy Parkinson and some other children of Uncle Lucius's friends, who I didn't like very much so I decided to keep looking for some other compartment that was alone or it did not have so many people inside, luckily for me, I found one where there were only two boys who looked my age, so I confidently opened the door and entered.

—Hi, I'm Eileen Snape, but can you call me Leen, can I stay with you for the rest of the trip?

They both looked at each other and I could see how the redhead was not so happy with that, but all he did was look at me and smile a little.

—Yes, that's fine. I'm Ron Weasley and this is Harry Potter.

—Oh! You are the boy who was with us at Madam Malkins!

—Yes.

—Hey, I'm really sorry for all the questions my cousin asked you, he's a complete idiot, I hope you're not upset with me. You can be upset with him, no problem.

—Yeah, no problem... Um... Are you really cousins? Don't want to offend, but...

—We are nothing alike? No, we are not cousins, we are not even of the 'same class' as he would say, he is pureblood and I am a half-blood, but I have lived with them my whole life, so I consider them my family.

—Hey Eileen. —Ron said.— Did you say your surname is Snape?

—Yes. Why do you ask?

—Sounds familiar, I think I have heard it somewhere else.

—Hey, Ron... Oh, you're the girl from before.

—Yes! Hi! Wow, I have a lot of people to apologize for because of my family... I'm so sorry, they are a little bit... Special.

—They're the Malfoys, right? Dad has told us about them.

—Yes, I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, I'm not related to them... My name is Eileen, by the way, Eileen Snape. —I smiled and they both looked at me like I said I just killed someone.— Are you guys alright?

—Snape? —The taller twin said.— Like Severus Snape?

—Um, yes... He is my father.

—Wow. —They both said.— Come with us.

They both took my hands and pulled me out of the compartment, dragging me all over the train, until finally, they put me in another one where there was only one boy.

—Hey Lee, you will never guess who she is.

—A poor first-year girl that you are scaring?

—Well, yes also that, but you'll never guess whose daughter she is.

—I'm still here, remember? And I'm not some dragon on display to talk about me like that.

I crossed my arms over my chest, I felt a little annoyed that they treated me that way, but at the same time I was curious to know why it was something so shocking, so I decided to stay.

—Sorry, Eileen.

—Okay, we're even for what happened at the station.

I sat next to the boy named Lee, Fred and George sat across from us.

—Hullo, I'm Lee Jordan by the way. —He reached out his right hand and I gave him a little handshake.— You are?

—You promise not to cause such a fuss like these two?

—I promise.

—I'm Eileen Snape.

—Oh... Wow... Really?

—May I know why everyone is so surprised? Teachers also have children, it is not a big deal. By the way, I still don't know the name of the two of you, although I still don't think I can tell you apart.

—I am George.

—I am Fred. —Okay, so he's taller of the two, at least I'll be able to tell them apart when they're together.

—It's just that, Eileen. —Lee began to speak.— Your father doesn't seem like the type of person who would have children...

—Or any relationship with anyone else. It seems like he hates the world. —Said Fred.

—Well, you are wrong.

I got up from the seat and left the compartment, heading to the one I was sharing earlier with Harry and Ron. When I got there, I saw Draco along with two others, who I slightly remembered seeing them at the Malfoy Manor, leaving the compartment, I went in and saw all the sweets on the floor.

—Do I have to apologize again for my family?

—What happened? —A girl asked behind me, she had brown hair so fluffy that I felt it would eat me if I put my hand in it.

They both ignored us, so I went in and sat next to Harry, taking a chocolate frog from the ground and starting to open the package, the girl just stood at the door.

—He and Eileen are the ones I saw in Madam Malkins.

—And, again, I'm so sorry, Harry.

—Do you need anything? —Ron said to the girl.

—I came to tell you to put on your robes, we are close to Hogwarts. You weren't fighting, were you?

—Scabbers was fighting, not we, now, could you both get out so we can change?

The girl and I left the compartment, I leaned against the door, looking at the mountains through the window. I turned to see the girl, who was still next to me.

—Hey, I'm Eileen Snape. Are you a second year?

—I'm Hermione Granger and no, I'm also a first-year.

—Oh, it's just that since you knew that we are already close to the castle, I thought you had been there before.

And the conversation died there, after a few seconds she left and I was alone outside the compartment for a few moments, then the boys opened the door and left for a while to let me put my robe on, after about 5 minutes the three of us were already back in the compartment.

—And Ron, what house do you think you're going to get sorted?

—Well, my whole family has always been Gryffindor, so I hope I am too, although I would prefer anything but Slytherin.

—Hey! My parents were Slytherin and my aunt and uncle too, there is nothing wrong with being there. I think I will be there, although Ravenclaw would not be bad, anything but Hufflepuff.

—But you know what they say about the Slytherins, they don't end up being such good people. My father says that the Malfoys would not think twice before going to the dark side again, he does not believe that they were bewitched.

—Yeah? Well-

—What is Hufflepuff? —Harry interrupted, I guess he sensed a fight was about to happen.

—It's just the worst house. —I said and to my surprise Ron nodded.— The 'fair and loyal' are supposed to go there but I think it only exists so as not to make those with no good virtue feel bad.

—Maybe I will be in Hufflepuff, then...

—Rubbish! —Ron said.— You are Harry Potter, I bet you will be in Gryffindor.

We continue to discuss various things, mainly explaining things to the wizarding world to Harry; when we finally got off the train, we were greeted by a huge man named Hagrid who took us to the lake where we had to get on boats to get to the castle.

—Hey Ron, do you think the giant squid will try to eat us?

—W-w-what? Giant? —Ron said as he looked out to the lake and since he was distracted, I tried to push him into the water without any success because he was holding on to the boat, but it was still a lot of fun.

—Eileen! It was not funny!

But I couldn't say anything since I was laughing so hard that I thought I would pee myself, and Ron, taking advantage of the fact that I was now distracted, also tried to push me into the lake, since I had my hands on my stomach for laughing so much, I could have fallen into the Lake had it not been because Hagrid was next to us and he put his hand on my back and threw me back in the front, so I just wet the ends of my hair a little.

Finally, we reached the shore and after getting off the boats, we went up some stone stairs until we were in front of two huge wooden doors, with a woman who was waiting for us, she introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.

—Welcome to Hogwarts. —Said McGonagall.— The start of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.

—The four houses, —continued McGonagall.— are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, and any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return when we are ready.

After she left, I started to feel even more nervous than when I was at Malfoy Manor. My father never mentioned that the sorting was in front of the whole school! Merlin, save me. 


	3. Year One - Chapter Three

The Great Hall was completely huge, there were four tables placed in parallel, one for each house and one in the background. In the table where the teachers were, I found my father, sitting next to the great Albus Dumbledore and I smiled at him in the most discreet way possible.

Professor McGonagall placed a small stool with an old pointy hat on top of it. The only thing I did know about the selection was that we had to put the hat on our heads to know in which house we will be sorted, I always thought that it would change the colour of the house or something similar, but I never imagined that the hat would say our house, so I was surprised to hear that he started singing. Who would have thought that even as a witch you would be surprised by things as simple as a talking hat?

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you have a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

We all clapped when the hat finished singing, McGonagall unrolled a piece of parchment and began to speak.

—When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool. Abbott, Hannah

A blonde-haired girl made her way to the stool and a few moments after putting on the hat, it shouted 'HUFFLEPUFF!' and one of the tables began to clap loudly.

—Bulstrode, Millicent.

'SLYTHERIN! ' Shouted the hat again. After a while, the hat kept sorting more students into their houses. Harry and Hermione had both been sorted into Gryffindor, so Ron was not so happy with that decision.

—Blimey, now I don't know if I want to be in Gryffindor with her.

—Don't worry Ron, I don't think she's that bad.

I gave him a few pats on the back while McGonagall finally said 'Snape, Eileen' and as I approached the hat I could only hear how everyone started to mutter and talk to each other. What? Did I have my robe backwards? Had I ripped my robe in any way? I couldn't help but blush, not only because all the students were talking about me, but also the image of me in my torn robe had come to my mind and probably everyone could see my underwear, even though I had the skirt below it.

As I sat on the stool waiting for the hat to make a decision, I heard several murmurs from some of the students.

—Is this a joke? Does he really have a daughter?

—Poor thing, she probably has a hard time, I don't think that man is capable of loving someone.

I felt like I wanted to cry, do they really think that about my father? I know he is not the most loving man in the world, but he is not a bad person.

After what seemed like hours listening to people say horrible things about my father, finally the hat had shouted his decision, one I wasn't so excited about it.

—GRYFFINDOR!

The hall was completely silent, perhaps because the daughter of the head of the Slytherin house had, not only been sorted in a different house but in the house with which they have always had a great rivalry. I turned to see my father and despite his face showing no emotion, I knew he was not upset or disappointed, faintly and then louder, applause began to be heard from my new house and I walked to the table, sitting next to Hermione.

After the sorting was over and Ron was also chosen in Gryffindor, Dumbledore gave a little speech about not entering the Forbidden Forest and something about the third floor that I didn't really pay much attention to, the only thing on my mind was how hungry I was, I didn't eat a lot at the Malfoy Manor and the chocolates that I ate on the train were simply not enough for me.

When the feast started, Fred and George sat in front of us.

—Hey, Mini Snape.

—If my father hears that, he would kill you.

—So is he really your father?

Said a girl who was sitting next to... George? I blushed a little from all the attention I had now, everyone around us was watching us and I could even see some students from other houses were also looking here.

—Yes, my name wouldn't be Snape if he wasn't.

—I don't mean to offend you —said the girl.— But your father is not the most loving person in the world, so that's why we find it strange that... Well, you know.

I didn't want to listen to this nonsense anymore and all I wanted was to eat before the feast ended, so I came up with the only way they would stop asking me questions about my father (and one way he would be proud too)

—We are discussing this and yet all of you forget the part that I'm still his daughter and I could tell him about all this.

I said while smiling sideways as I had seen Uncle Lucius do several times, even he would be proud to see how everyone just thought that the mashed potatoes were now the most interesting thing in the world.

—Well, you really are his daughter.

Said Fred? Merlin these two guys are like two drops of water.

Finally, I was able to eat without each person asking me if I was my father's daughter and when the feast ended, the prefects were in charge of taking us to the Gryffindor Tower, but Percy (another one of Ron's brothers) grabbed me by the shoulder.

—Eileen, right?

—That's right and yes, I'm the daughter of Professor Snape. Was that all you wanted to ask?

—What? Ah, no, no, actually your uh... Your father asked me to take you with him, he said he wanted to talk to you.

—Oh, okay.

We walked around for a long time and going around several times that I thought Percy had just gotten lost, but finally, we stopped in front of a door, at a part of the castle where the temperature had decreased a little.

—I'll be waiting around here to take you back.

—Thanks, I think I'd be lost if you leave me.

I could see how he smiled a little and just stood there, I opened the door and entered as cautiously as possible, luckily for me, he was very busy looking for something in some drawers so he had his back turned, I approached as stealthily as possible and when I was behind him I hugged him as hard as I could.

—Hi dad, you wanted to talk to me?

I stopped hugging him and he turned around so he could look me in the face.

—I just wanted to remind you that because you are my daughter, you will not receive better treatment than the other students, I will not get you out of detention if you do some mischief and that I know you will do it and I am even more sure of it because I saw you talking with the Weasley twins, don't think I'm happy about that, I'd rather you didn't hang out with them. And don't think I expect to see you have mediocre grades either, for your sake, I hope you pay attention in class. —He said as he put his hand in my hair and messed it up a bit.

—Okay dad, I know. Is there something else?

—No.

I was about to leave his office, but I returned to the chair where I was sitting.

—Can you lend me some parchment? I'd like to send Aunt Cissy a letter.

As soon as he handed me a piece of parchment and a quill, I started writing.

_Dear Aunt Cissy._

_I know not even a day has passed since Draco and I left, but I already miss you so much._

_Despite what I believed, I did not get sorted into Slytherin, but in Gryffindor, I do not know why the hat decided that but I hope you are not disappointed. Draco did get sorted in Slytherin._

_I hope you are well and I hope I can visit you for the Christmas holidays._

_Loves you,_

_Eileen Snape._

—Here. Do you think you can send it to her?

When he took the letter, I got up from the chair and stand next to him, since now he was also sitting, I was able to hug him and give him a little kiss on the cheek. I was about to open the door, but I turned to look at him.

—Aunt Cissy gave me a gift before coming here.

—Don't tell me that they bought you the brooms.

—No, she gave me something better. —I thought about it a bit before showing him the photo, at home, we never talked about mum, although I don't know the reason, nobody has ever told me what happened to her.

He looked at the photo for a couple of seconds, then returned it to me.

—Good night, Eileen.

—You're not disappointed because I was sorted into Gryffindor, are you?

—Of course not. Why would I be?

—Well... I know that the Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along. And I remember that from sometimes you mentioned that Gryffindor's are dunderheads.

—I'm not going to deny that I'm not very... Fond of that house, but that doesn't matter, I'm very... Proud of you, I know you will do great things, no matter what house you are in.

I hugged him as tightly as I could and then I left the room, I had completely forgotten that Percy was outside, I wonder if he was listening and how much he listened.

I decided not to give it too much importance to that and I didn't say anything to him, we walked towards the Tower in almost complete silence, maybe he noticed that my mood had changed and that's why he didn't speak so much, although from time to time he told me some information about the castle.

When I finally got to the girls' room, Hermione and the other girls who were also in Gryffindor were already asleep. I put on my pyjamas without trying to make as much noise and finally lay down on the bed, which was the same or even better than the one I had in the Malfoy Manor.

I took the necklace hanging from my neck and opened it, only to see my parents' picture again.

Why my father never wants to talk about her?


	4. Year One - Chapter Four

**Hullo! Are you liking the story so far? I hope you do! And I would love to read your opinions on this so please leave a comment!**

* * *

I woke up to the faint sound of someone flipping through the pages of a book, I got up and saw that it was Hermione, the other girls were still asleep.

—Good morning, Hermione. —I said as I stretched comfortably and started looking for my things to go to bathe.

—Hey… —She said without looking up from the book, I even doubt that she realized who was talking to her.

—I'm going to take a quick bath. Will you wait for me to go and have breakfast together?

—Sure. —And she continued reading without looking at me, I swear that the Dark Lord would be speaking to her and she wouldn't even notice.

I took my things and went to the bathroom, it was still early so there weren't many girls inside. I hated bathing in the morning because it made me feel more tired than I already was. Most of the time I always kept thinking about a thousand things while I was under the running water, so it always took me at least 30 minutes to finish, but now I was so tired that I finished in half the time.

When I returned to the room, the girls were still sleeping and Hermione was still reading the same book.

—I'm ready. Shall we go now? —But it seemed that I was speaking to the wall, she didn't take her eyes off the book and now I don't know if for some reason she got upset me in these minutes and decided to ignore me.

I went to her bed and put my hand on the page where she was reading, now she turned to see me.

—Oh, hi Eileen, do you need something? —I chuckled. Was this some kind of a joke?

—Do I…? I told you I was going to take a shower and then go to have breakfast together. Weren't you paying attention? You even answered me!

—Oh, did I? Sorry, I was extremely focused on this book.

—Merlin, a troll could pass in front of you and you wouldn't even notice it. Come on, let's have breakfast, I'm starving.

I remembered more or less the way from the tower to the Great Hall, but still, I think I would have gotten lost, luckily I had Hermione who had already learned the way by heart.

—By the way, Eileen, when we went to sleep last night, I noticed that you weren't with us. Where did you go? You weren't getting into trouble the first day, were you?

—I would've like to, but no, my father wanted to talk to me. To be honest, if Percy hadn't waited for me, chances are I wouldn't have made it to the Tower. This place is even bigger than I imagined.

When we finally arrived at the hall, I saw that Harry and Ron were already eating and we went to sit next to them.

—Hello guys.

—Oh, hullo, Leen. —Ron said.

And then the conversation ended, I don't know if they weren't so excited about being up so early in the morning or if they just weren't very happy to be with us.

When most of the students were already having breakfast, thousands of owls flew in with letters addressed to their owners.

I was a little surprised to see that one of the owls stood in front of me with a letter from Aunt Cissy and a small bag of candy. I put the sweets in my robe and quickly opened the letter.

_Dear Eileen._

_Congratulations on finally being at Hogwarts, your uncle and I are very happy. We also miss you very much._

_I'm not going to deny that we both expected you to be in Slytherin and, we would prefer that you were one, but we are not disappointed._

_I'm going to tell you a little secret, as you know, your mother was in Slytherin, but her first day was hard for her, she thought she was going to be in Gryffindor like the rest of her family, but if she had been a Gryffindor, she probably wouldn't have been friends with us and your father, therefore you wouldn't be here now, what I'm trying to say is, there's a reason why you are in that house._

_We hope you have a good first year and enjoy the sweets I sent you, I know they are your favourites but remember to eat them in moderation._

_Send our regards to your father._

_Narcissa Malfoy._

—So it's true that you are related to the Malfoys? —Ron asked, sitting next to me reading my letter.

—Ron! Do you not know what private means?

He just shrugged, trying to downplay the matter, but still kept looking at me while waiting for an answer.

—I had already explained it on the train… They are not my aunt and uncle, we are not related in any way, but they have been taking care of me since I was a baby because my father couldn't bring me to school and take care of me, so I consider them as my family.

—So, if your father couldn't take care of you, what about your mother? Why couldn't she?

That question made me feel in a sombre mood, I went from sitting correctly as I had been taught to being completely hunched over, and with my eyes lost on my cereal plate.

—I'd rather not talk about that.

To my surprise, Ron understood that and stopped asking questions about my family.

When we finished having breakfast, Hermione and I returned to the common room to go get our things, but we were surprised to see that there were a lot of guys standing in front of the entrance.

—What's going on?

—No one remembers the password and we cannot enter. —Answered one of the girls, Lavanda, Lavender, or something, I wasn't paying attention when she got sorted.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked through the crowd until she was in front of the Fat Lady.

—You will have to improve your memory if you want to pass the exams. Caput Draconis!

The portrait opened, giving way to the common room and we went up as fast as we could to our room to grab our things.

—What classes do we have today?

—Don't you have your schedule?

—No, I think I forgot it the hall.

Hermione rolled her eyes again and let me see her schedule to find out which books to put in my bag, mental note: copy Hermione's schedule.

—What do we have now?

—Herbology.

We walked calmly towards the gardens where the greenhouses are located, we realized that it was still about 15 minutes before the class started, so we didn't have to rush.

The class was not as bad as I thought, Professor Sprout was a short woman and somewhat chubby, in addition to being really nice and I did not find the subject difficult. If it continues like this, maybe I will just need to read my notes before the exams.

The next class was History of Magic, the most boring class in the world. Professor Binns is a ghost, which made me feel excited for 1.5 seconds, but all he does is talk and talk non-stop in the most monotonous way possible, seriously how come no one has died of boredom until now? If all the topics are as boring as him, I'll probably be the first one to die.

Since we were late to class, Ron and I sat in the back of the room and I inevitably fell asleep after 15 minutes of the class had passed, surprisingly I woke up a little before the end of the class bell rang.

The only good thing was that after that class, it was lunchtime, so we went as fast as possible to the Great Hall, and Ron and I started eating like there was no tomorrow, hell the manners the Malfoys taught me.

—Ugh, do you have to eat like animals?

—Sorry, Hermione, I'm really hungry. —I said as I was getting my second plate of potatoes.

—It's only been a few hours since the last time we ate. How can you be so hungry?

I just lifted my shoulders as I shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes into my mouth.

I was very happy serving my third plate of food when I felt two hands on each of my shoulders and saw Fred and George each sitting next to me.

—Well, it seems like we'll have to be here earlier if we want to get some food. —Said Fred.

—Sorry guys.

—Well, Miss Snape, how was your first day?

—Ugh, History of Magic is horrible, I thought I would die of boredom and also come out of that class like a ghost. How is it possible that no one has died yet?

Fred chuckled and I grabbed my fourth plate of food, if I keep it up, at the end of the week I will end up rolling into all my classes.

—Hey Eileen, we want to give Professor Quirrell a small welcome back gift. Would you like to join us?

—Of course, what do you plan to do?

—Oh, we will only put a few dung bombs in his office.

—Eileen! You will be in a lot of trouble if you get caught!

—Oh, come on Hermione, live a little bit, besides, you said so yourself _if_ we get caught.

And with that, I got up from my place and started to follow Fred and George, when we left the hall, I looked back and I could see how my father was looking at me

Are we likely to get caught? Probably.

Is it likely that my father will kill me? Absolutely.


	5. Year One - Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback makes me happy!  
> Happy Monday.

—And how are we going to get into his office?

—We have our secrets.

—It offends me that you don't tell me. —I said as I put my hand on my chest in a dramatic way.

They both laughed and we kept walking until a voice made us stop completely.

—Can any of you tell me what is this trio of Gryffindors doing outside of their classes?

—Professor Snape, we... —George sad.

—We're only accompanying...

—Eileen...

—To her next class. —Fred finished.

—I think she is old enough to go to her classes by herself. You two, —he said as he pointed at Fred and George.— leave right now before I take more points than you have.

They both put a hand on my shoulders as a farewell and walked towards the way we came from, I was afraid to look my father in the eye, so I decided to look at my shoes.

—Well

—What?

—Aren't you going to tell me why you were with those two instead of being in class?

—There's still 10 minutes to go to the next class so I wasn't doing anything wrong...

—Evan.

Oh no, he was really angry, he never used my middle name if he wasn't completely angry.

—Yes, daddy?

He let out a long breath and put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, which he did every time he tried not to get angrier than he already was.

—What class do you have now?

—Oh, um... I don't know, Hermione's the one that has the schedule.

—And why don't you have yours?

—I think I forgot it in the Great Hall.

He sighed again and just looked at me hoping it was a joke, so I started to look at my shoes again.

—Follow me.

I was a little distracted so I didn't react when I said that, I had to run a bit to get to his side. We walked for a few moments, we were going to where the twins and I came from, so I assumed we were heading towards the hall.

—How did your first classes go?

—Herbology was not so bad, it was entertaining, but I hated History of Magic, I fell asleep the whole class.

—I hope you remember what I said last night, I don't want you to have mediocre scores, so I don't know how but you better find a way to stay awake during class.

—I know, I'm sorry, dad.

We kept walking in silence, I don't have the slightest idea where he's taking me, but I don't think it's the hall anymore.

—Where are we going?

No answer, if he's really mad just because I was with Fred and George, I wouldn't want to know how he would be if we had managed to put the dung bombs...

—Severus, what are you doing? I thought you would be in your classroom now.

—I should, but a certain young lady here has no idea what class she has now, so I was trying to find you, McGonagall, I was lucky to find you before you went to your class.

—Well, lucky for you, I have a class with them right now, so do not worry, I will take her to the class.

—Thank you, professor.

And so, without further ado, he kept walking, I couldn't help but feel sad, I was so excited to finally be able to spend more time with him and in less than a day I managed to make him upset. And a lot.

After my father left, McGonagall said something like "just like her" but she said it so softly that I couldn't be sure, although I didn't want to cause any more trouble so I just followed her silently to the classroom. I had to sit at the end, along with Neville, since all the other places were occupied.

When I finally managed to clear my head, I started to pay attention to the class and take notes on what McGonagall was saying, although I didn't understand very well what she was talking about because I wasn't paying attention, second mental note: ask Hermione for the notes.

The class finally ended and Hermione quickly approached me.

—Eileen, why were you late and why were you with professor McGonagall?

—Do you really have to know everything? —I was a little upset, yes, I don't understand that need of hers to be perfect in every aspect, but the moment I saw her sad face, I felt bad for how I answered her. —My father caught us on the way to Quirrell's office.

—I told you it was a bad idea! Your first day here and you're already in trouble.

—Surprisingly, no, I'm not in trouble, he just got mad at me. What do we have now?

—Charms.

We kept walking towards the Charms classroom, while Hermione reviewed everything we had seen in transformations, she loved talking about the classes and I loved not having to copy her notes after so that seemed like a win-win situation.

The rest of the classes passed calmly, as it should be, although Flitwick, the Charms teacher, fainted upon learning that Harry Potter was in his class.

Dinner time came and, contrary to what I thought, I was not so excited, I could not help feeling a little sad, but I did not know why, so I just forced myself to eat a few mashed potatoes and then I walked as fast as I could to my room, to go to sleep.

Seconds passed.

Minutes passed.

And I just couldn't sleep, I didn't understand what it was that I felt in my chest, but I felt very strange.

I decided to get out of bed and go down to the common room, there was no one there anymore and the lights were off, so I assumed it was late. Without thinking, I left the common room without any direction in mind, I just started walking, thinking that maybe it would calm me down.

—You want to miss your classes first, and now you're out of your common room after curfew?

I turned around and saw my father looking at me, disappointment clear in his face, I felt an immense urge to cry so I went to him and hugged him.

—Sorry, I couldn't sleep... I felt weird and I thought that walking would help me, I don't know why but I think it is because I miss being home, I miss being with the Malfoys... I thought I would not feel that way because you would be here but I rarely see you and all I've done was making you mad in the morning, besides I still think you're disappointed in me for being a Gryffindor... I'm sorry, dad.

Tears kept running down my face, with more and more intensity, I heard my father sigh before he bent down to carry me, I hugged him tight around the neck and he started making soft circles on my back with his hand. I didn't know where we were going, I assumed that he would take me back to the common room but I couldn't confirm it because I quickly fell asleep on his shoulder.


	6. Year One - Chapter Six

I woke up from the cold in the room, it was completely dark so I assumed it was still very early in the morning. I got up to try to find a sweater in my trunk, but I realized that I was not in my room in the Gryffindor Tower. Where am I?

I looked at what little I could see around me and quickly remembered what had happened last night, I had fallen asleep on my father's shoulder. Am I in his room? But then, where is he? The bed is too small for two people to sleep here. Maybe there is an extra room?

I got out of bed and wished I had slippers right now, the floor was so cold that even with socks, I could feel it; I walked to the only door there, being careful not to trip or knocked anything, and left the room. Here there was not much light either, only for a candle placed on a desk, but at least it was enough to recognize that I was in my father's office, he was lying on a sofa that did not look very comfortable and I immediately felt bad, if it hadn't been for my immaturity this it would not have happened, 11 years old and crying like a baby for not being at home. I bet I'm the only one who feels like this!

I left my father's office and it comforted me to know that it was still very early, the sun was barely rising, well, at least now no one else will know what happened, much less Hermione who loves to know everything, all the time.

I had more or less an idea of the way back to the common room, I still remembered the route I took with Percy the first day and even if I got lost, all I would have to do anyway is keep going up since the Tower was on the seventh floor, so as long as I kept going up everything would be fine.

After a while I finally managed to get to the common room, there were a few seventh-year boys who didn't pay much attention to me because they were studying, Merlin, It hasn't been a week and they already seem to be full of homework! I hope everything changes when I'm in the seventh year because if not, I won't be able to do all of that. Or probably I won't even survive my first year!

I went up to my room to get clean clothes and some towels and I went to bathe, the hot water relaxed me and distracted me from thinking about my inevitable end as a seventh-year student...

...But it definitely made me think of my inevitable end as a first-year student, I already had homework to do but couldn't remember what, so I quickly got out of my bathroom and changed to start doing my homework, which I knew I had written down somewhere.

I had at least an hour to do the homework since Hermione was still asleep and I guess she always gets up super early... Wow, I should get a watch, so maybe I'm won't get so lost in life. When I went down to the common room, I asked the time of one of the seventh year boys, it was close to 7.

I started my Herbology essay, it was not complicated at all but it was a bit long since, by the time I had finished, Hermione had come down ready to go to breakfast

—Eileen! Here you are, I was surprised not to see you in the room, I thought you had gone to get in trouble.

—First of all, good morning to you too Hermione, and second, you say it like I'm in trouble 24 hours! Just because I wanted to do one yesterday doesn't mean it's the only thing that matters to me.

—You're right, I'm sorry, it's just that last night you looked very distracted, I thought you were planning something.

—Oh, that... No... I just think it was because of the dinner, which made my stomach feel awful. Don't worry, do you want to go to breakfast?

She just nodded, maybe she didn't completely believe the lie, but no even in a million years was I going to tell her that I went to cry with my father like a little girl.

I put my things away and we went to the Great Hall, on the way we ran into several students from other years, who were starting to look at us strangely and mumble as soon as they saw us, what? Am I wearing two different pairs of shoes? Do I have the shirt inside out?

Or do they know that I cried like a baby last night!?

—What do you think, Eileen?

—What?

—Weren't you paying attention?

—No, I'm sorry, it's just that everyone starts muttering as soon as they see us and it distracts me.

—Oh, don't listen to them, they have nothing better to do. I was telling you it's incredible all the secrets that Hogwarts has ...

And we kept talking about Hogwarts at breakfast, it didn't seem that interesting to me, I think I had read a book about the castle at the manor, but I didn't want to make her feel bad, I had already spoken badly to her yesterday and being honest I think she is my only friend here since Harry and Ron don't talk to us as much, maybe they had been bothered by how we interrupted them on the train the first day. Not to mention Draco! I haven't seen him since sorting.

Finishing breakfast, we went to our classes, hoping to have another quiet day. Or at least that's how I thought it would be until we ran into Fred and George.

—Good morning, ladies.

—Hello, Fred, George.—Hermione just stared the other way, ignoring them.

—Did you have problems with your father? —George asked.

—Not really, although it surprised me, I thought he would do something extreme like to get me out of school.

—Well, we haven't put the stink bomb in Quirrell's office yet. Do you want to go with us?

I thought about it for a moment, I didn't want to disappoint my father again but, now that I think about it, the only reason he knew we would do something was that he saw us come out of the hall together, he's not here now so...

—Sure, but it will be after dinner.

—Okay, see you at dinner.

Hermione looked at me angrily, I just lifted my shoulders and said goodbye to the twins.

—Eileen! I thought you said pranks weren't important to you.

—No, I said that they were not the only important thing, but of course, I love doing them. I used to do a lot at home, well, only in the summer when I was with my father, I wouldn't think to do one at the Malfoy Manor.

The classes felt eternal, but they were finally over and it was time for dinner, when I entered the hall quickly I could see the twins and went to sit with them.

—Hello guys.

—Hello, Mini Snape. —Said the one I was pretty sure was Fred. I think the best thing was to put a large print on their foreheads with ink, to know who was who.

—Never let my father hear you say that if you want to live.

I started to serve some chicken and mashed potatoes on my plate, I could not believe that for 7 years I will be eating this wonderful food. It is like paradise!

—Talking about him, is he the same at home as in class?

Again, more people were spying on us, but this time I didn't care anymore so I just tried to ignore them.

—Well, I don't know what he's like in class, I don't have potions until Friday, but if you mean, if he's just as bitter at home, yes, he's always bitter.

—It must be hard, right? Oh and sorry for meddling, I'm Angelina Johnson.

—Nice to meet you, and no, it doesn't seem hard to me, it has always been like this, it would even seem strange to me if he started to be less... Him, you know? Besides, he is different when he's with me, well unless I did something bad. So, guys, are we going to do that or not?

—Of course, Mini Snape, we should go now so we don't waste any more time.

—Okay, but you guys get out first, or else my father will know that we'll try to do something again.

The boys nodded and left. While waiting a reasonable amount of time for it not to look suspicious, I saw Hermione sitting at the end of the table eating alone, I didn't want to leave her there alone, but I had already promised them that I would help them, so I just got up from the table and I left the hall, Fred and George were there waiting for me.

We went quickly to Quirrell's office, when I left the hall, he was still there, but we couldn't know how much longer he would be there.

It wasn't difficult to get in, an alohomora was enough, so we put several stinky bombs around and left; if we had taken a few more minutes, we would have been discovered, Quirrell was walking towards his office, so we quickly went another way and stayed close enough to hear his groans and how bad his office smelled.

I will have a great year at Hogwarts.


	7. Year One - Chapter Seven

Friday was finally here, I had survived my first week at Hogwarts, I only had a few classes, and finally, I could rest.

I couldn't believe how Professor Quirrell was disgusted by the smell of the dung bombs the other day; when we entered his classroom, the whole place reeked of garlic! I thought maybe I would be used to bad smells but I felt a lot more nauseous that day than when I was at the manor waiting to go to King Cross.

Yesterday, I entered the D.A.D.A classroom afraid that he would have seen us that day but as soon as he saw me he did not say anything to me or looked strangely, apparently he did not know who had left the dung bombs in his office, so I was able to relax for the rest of the class that day.

Hermione and I were on our way to our first potions class, I was a little nervous, but my father had told me that he would treat me like any other student, so I hoped he wouldn't pay much attention to me, or expect me to answer every question.

—Dittany is a powerful healing herb...

—Merlin's pants, Hermione! You don't have to memorize the whole book before class, just memorize it one day before the exam.

—A day before the exam? Are you mental? There are thousands of things we have to learn and...

—Exactly, my dear Hermione, _learn,_ not _memorize,_ so we have all year to do that. Why don't you relax a little before class? Later you can go to the library and study as much as you want.

—But, aren't you even a little nervous? There are lots of things we have to learn, know how to prepare potions, what happens if we don't put the ingredients listed...

—Mione, my father is a Potion Master, do you really think there are no books about that at home? In the summer I used to read many of those books. I don't love potion making as my father does, but there really wasn't much to do at home and I got a little taste for it, so I think I have what it takes to survive this class. I hope.

We were outside the classroom waiting for class to start when I saw Draco with his friends, they walked past us and practically ignored us. Is he mad at me for not being in Slytherin? I left Hermione, still memorizing the book, and approached Draco.

—Hey, Draco.

—Ah, hullo, Eileen.

—Why are you ignoring me? I've been trying to talk to you these days and you're just pretending I don't exist.

—And risk being seen with the mudblood? I know you're always with that one.

He looked down on Hermione, who was still going through the book, his stupid friends just started laughing; I don't get it, I knew my aunt and uncle cared about blood purity and several times they had also told us how "important" it was, I must admit there was a time when I also believed it was important, but I didn't think Draco was like that too.

—Well, yeah, maybe she is but... But that doesn't matter, she's nice once you get to know her.

All his friends laughed again, including him, so I decided to better walk away and go back to Hermione, just in time when my father opened the door to the classroom and we all entered. Hermione quickly went to sit up front, (although I don't understand why she would think that someone would want to sit at the front, everyone prefers the background) so I had no other choice and I went to sit next to her.

As soon as we were all seated, my father started taking the register and stopped as soon as he got to Harry's name.

—Ah, Harry Potter, our new... celebrity.

Draco and the gorillas (of his friends) started laughing, I just tried to cover my face with my hands, he kept taking the register and I hoped he doesn't do anything against Harry again...

—Potter! —Well, I spoke very soon. —What will I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?

Oh, that is very simple, they create the Draught of Living Dead; I even thought about raising my hand to answer, but Hermione beat me on that, so I slowly put down my hand.

—I don't know, professor.

—Clearly, fame isn't everything. Well, where would you look for a bezoar?

Hermione was still with her hand raised and he was completely ignoring her, now I begin to understand why they say all those things about him...

—I don't know, professor.

I could see how Harry looked at me quickly and angrily like I was to blame for this! On the train he had told us about how horrible his aunt and uncle were, I thought he would understand that you are not always the same as your family... Or is he also a horrible person and has only been hiding it? Hmm...

—What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?

—I don't know. Why don't you ask Hermione? I think she knows the answer.

Several people laughed and my father seemed to start getting angry, but I couldn't let him continue humiliating my friends, so, without knowing where I got my courage from, I spoke before he said anything again.

—Since you don't want Hermione to answer, professor, I will; asphodel and wormwood produce the Draught of Living Dead, the bezoar is taken from the stomach of a goat and monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant. I recommend that you don't ask questions if you don't want students to answer them.

I had risen from my seat and even though I didn't want to, I was looking him straight in the eye, now I was angry too, he was insulting my friends! Well, I didn't know if Harry and I were friends... But that didn't matter. He turned to speak to Harry, maybe he was going to ignore the fact that I had talked to him like that in front of the whole class...

—A point will be taken from Gryffindor because of you, Potter. —He turned to see me, great, I spoke too early again.— And you, detention today, at 7.

I sat down and decided not to speak again for the rest of the class, I didn't want to get into trouble again.

We were working in pairs to make the Cure for Boils, Hermione and I were doing well and I was thankful that he was ignoring us, only occasionally he would look at our cauldron and then proceed to criticize someone else.

I was tired of him saying again how Draco was doing everything perfectly, I even doubted it was true, he had never been interested in potions; it always bothered me when he saw me reading a potion book saying "that was boring and only the boring people read it".

—How I wish something would happen to stop him from praising Draco. —I whispered to Hermione and as if by magic... Well, it was magic but... Uh... Well, luckily, something did happen; the idiot of Neville had somehow ruined his potion; now the entire room was filled with green clouds and the potion was melting the shoes of everyone who were close to them. Neville was covered in red boils all over his arms. Seamus took Neville to the infirmary, and although my father took points from Harry for no reason, the class went on without a problem.

When the class ended, I got out of the room and ran as fast as possible to catch up with Ron and Harry, I don't know how they did it but they were already very far.

—Harry! Harry, wait.

—What, Eileen?

—Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what my father said in class, I don't even know why he treated you like that.

—It's okay.

—No, I'm really sorry and I hope that... Wait, what?

—It's okay, Leen, it's not like it's your fault. Also, the way you defended us showed that you are not like him. Thanks, by the way.

—Oh, Harry... —I gave him a little hug.— Anything for my friends.

—Yes, well, Harry, we have to go.

—Oh, right, Ron, well... see you later, Leen.

They walked towards the gardens, and I started walking towards the common room, I used to spend most of the day sleeping at home and now I'm always busy with homework, but today is Friday! The homework can wait, they will be a problem for the Eileen of the future.

I had barely taken a couple of steps of the wide marble staircase in the Entrance Hall when I heard someone calling my name, I turned and was surprised to see Draco walking towards me, he was closing the door that led to the Dungeons Corridor.

—Draco? Wow, I didn't know that now I am worthy of your presence.

—I'm here just because you are no longer with that-

—Hermione, her name is Hermione, don't you dare say anything else.

—Oh, yeah? What will you do if I say it?

—Remember when we went to Muggle London and saw on that photo box how one person was stretching another's underwear? Well, I still remember how to do it and you know I'm stronger than you, so you won't be able to stop me.

Draco opened his eyes as wide as he could, I could see how he turned even paler and I laughed hard, I clearly remember that day, Uncle Lucius had some business to do in Muggle London (although I can't imagine what he might need from that place) so while we waited, Aunt Cissy (surprisingly) took us for a walk and I could see in one of those boxes some photos (that could move longer and even had sound) as one man lifted the underwear of another, I thought it was funny and I tried it that day with Draco after he made fun of me because I bought a potions book.

—Anyway, what did you want, Draco?

—Ah, I just... Um... I wanted to, you know, from what I told you before class...

—Apologize?

—Yes, that... I miss you, Eileen, and the truth was that at first, I didn't want to talk to you because you are a Gryffindor, but then I saw you talking to... Granger and I don't know how you can stand her.

—I miss you too, Draco. I did not expect to be in Gryffindor either, but that does not change anything, it is not the end of the world for a Slytherin to speak to a Gryffindor. Blimey, my dad doesn't even care about that and he's the Head of Slytherin. And Hermione... Yes, sometimes it is a bit annoying that she wants to know everything, all the time, but she's nice and she's... Well, my only friend.

—Wow, that's depressing, but at least you're not a friend of Saint Potter.

—Saint Potter? —I couldn't avoid laughing again.— You sound like the people that adore him... But, no, we're not that close.

—Well... It's good that you're not his friend. See you later, Leen, it was good talking to you.

—You know you can always talk to me, we live in the same castle and nobody will tell you anything about being around Hermione.

—Hah! Yeah, sure.

He turned and went back to the Dungeons Corridor, I guess near is the Slytherin common room. I turned around and kept going up the staircase, hoping no one would interrupt me again.

—Hey, mini Snape. —Bloody hell, will my homework be done if I don't ask for it? I looked up and Fred was standing at the top of the staircase, his broom resting on his shoulder.

—Oh, hullo, Fred.

—How did you know it was me?

—Dunno, I just knew it. Are you on the Quidditch team? Training so soon?

—Oh no, it doesn't start for a couple of weeks, I just wanted to go flying for a while, you know, think of something other than homework. Do you want to go with me?

—Well, I had the same thought, only less sporty, I was going to the common room and sleep until dinner, but that sounds like fun.

We started walking towards the Quidditch pitch, which I had only seen from afar a few days ago but never had a chance to go.

—Hey, George, Lee, and I plan to go to a special place later. Do you want to come with us?

—Special? What place could be so special inside Hogwarts?

—Ah, that's what makes it special. It's outside Hogwarts.

—Outside? But I thought we couldn't go outside unless it was a Hogsmeade trip. How will you open the gate?

Fred started laughing, I don't understand, was there a way out?

—You see, mini Snape, the gate is not the only entrance to Hogwarts, so do you wanna go?

—It sounds amazing and I would love to, but I can't. I have detention later today.

—Great! Just a week and you already have detention, it took you a little longer than us, we had detention on our second day, but not bad. What did you do?

I started to tell him everything that happened in potions class and by the time I finished, we got to the Quidditch pitch, which was huge; after Fred laughed at what had happened and congratulated me for being one of the few (or perhaps only) people who had dared to talk to my father like that, he decided to do a few laps on his broom, while I sat in the stands to watch him; I realized how cute and cool he looked on the broom... Wait, Eileen! What kind of things are you thinking about? Being in the sun has already started to affect me.

Because I kept thinking about how cute and cool he definitely didn't look, I didn't realize that he had already come down and was next to me.

—So?

—Ah?

—Do you want to fly a little?

—Oh! Uh... I don't know, I always fly close to the ground, it scares me a little to be so high up.

—Come on, it will be fun, I'll make sure nothing happens to you.

After a few minutes, he finally convinced me and now I was on top of the broom, holding on to it as if my life depended on it. Although, well, my life did depend on it.

Fred gave me some advice while I was in the air so that I wouldn't fall, so I grabbed the courage from somewhere and started to go up in the air, I kept going up and up until Fred looked just like a tiny dot on the ground; I was scared, yes, but after a while, the fear turned into excitement and I started doing some laps around the pitch, slowly increasing my speed.

After doing at least three laps, I decided to go down, but when I was close to the ground and my feet could touch the grass, one of my feet caught on my robe and I fell off the broom, scraping my face, my knees, and my right hand.

—Merlin, Eileen, are you alright?

—Yes, only a few small scratches, nothing to worry about.

—Good. You know, I think you fly really well, even while using one of the school brooms, maybe you could try to be on the team next year.

—You think so? —I couldn't help but smile like a fool when I heard that.— Thanks but, Quidditch isn't my thing.

We sat in the stands for a while, talking about anything, mainly from all the pranks he and George had made during their first two years until we realized it was getting late (thanks to my stomach that decided to roar so loudly that it could be heard in the castle), so we decided to go to the Great Hall. He went to sit with George and Lee while I went with Hermione.

—Eileen! What happened to your face?

—Oh, just a little accident, nothing important.

—Nothing important? Your cheek is full of scratches, it could even get infected.

I moved my hand to play down that and started serving myself some chicken, I was starving.

—Eileen...

—Mh? —I turned to see her with my mouth full of food.

—I wanted to thank you, for what happened in class, I lost you after leaving the classroom, and then I couldn't find you anywhere but… Anyway, thanks, for everything.

—You don't have to thank me, it was very unfair and rude that my dad was completely ignoring you.

—Not only that but also... Well, also for being my first friend, everyone always tries to stay away from me for being a... Well, a know-it-all.

—You are very smart, Hermione, there is no doubt, but you are more than that, I like spending time with you.

—I thought you didn't like it when we stayed for hours in the library.

—Well, that's what friends are for, to complain about having to be in the library for too long.

Hermione laughed and hugged me, now I feel a little bad because at the beginning I also thought she was an annoying know-it-all...

—Thanks, Leen... Hey, don't you have detention today?

—Yes, but it's until 7.

—Eileen, it's 7:15.

And I ran out of the Hall in the direction of my father's office, Merlin's pants... I couldn't finish eating my chicken! Now I will have to go to sleep on an almost empty stomach.

Finally, I had reached his office and I started knocking on the door quickly, I put my hands on my knees to try to catch some of my breath, plus my stomach felt weird from running right after eating... certainly, today is not my day.

—Ah, so you decided to come. —He didn't even bother to look at me or ask if I was okay, he went to sit at his desk, so I followed him into the office and sat in the chair across from him.

—Sorry! I was having dinner and I didn't know what time it was... I couldn't even finish dinner.

—You should have thought about it before blatantly disrespecting me in class, didn't you say a couple of days ago how bad you felt because I was upset? You clearly don't care. What was the real reason, Eileen, that you were out of your common room at that time? Probably fooling around with the Weasley twins, right? I saw you enter the Great Hall with one of them, didn't I told you that I don't like that you hang around with them? They are a bad influence. What happened to your face?

—I was really feeling awful that day! I did not lie to you, I can't believe you think I would lie to you like that, but today was different, it just wasn't fair that you treated my friends like that, asking Harry a thousand questions that you knew he couldn't answer, isn't the Draught of the Living Death a N.E.W.T potion? And ignoring Hermione... I didn't want to believe everything bad they said about you but now I see that they say it with good reason... What will be my detention? I want to finish this as soon as possible.

—You still haven't told me what happened to your face.

—I fell.

He looked me in the eye for a couple of seconds, I really couldn't know what he was thinking, but if he knew that I was flying with Fred, he would probably forbid me to keep talking to them.

—Did you put on something? Even if it is a simple scratch it could get infected.

—No, I didn't...

He sighed, got up and started looking for something inside the thousands of cabinets he had full of potions, he took out a small bottle with a substance similar to pudding, only green and began to apply it to my cheek.

It made me feel like I was 5 years old again, in one of those many days where I would be playing and somehow manage to hurt myself, and when he heard me crying, he always stopped doing whatever he was doing, no matter how important it was, he would take me to the couch, put something on where I had hurt myself and hugged me until I stopped crying and fell asleep.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days.

—Is that the only place you scratched yourself?

—Oh no, also my hand and my knees.

After applying the green thing to the rest of the scratches, he told me that my detention would be to write _'I must not disrespect my teachers',_ and after an hour, he ordered some chicken sandwiches from the kitchen and told me to eat before leaving.

I went to the common room, really wishing that no one would bother me again and finally be able to sleep, something I have been waiting for so long to do.


	8. Year One - Chapter Eight

—Flight classes, Gryffindor and Slytherin this Thursday... Wait, today is Thursday. —I began to read the sheet of paper that had appeared this morning in the common room.

—Perfect, now I'll make a fool of myself on a broom in front of Malfoy.

—Don't worry Harry, I don't think you're going to make a fool of yourself. —Ron said.— Also, he's always going on about how good he is flying, but I bet it's all talk, isn't it, Eileen?

—Well, he's better than me, but it's not saying much, a few weeks ago I fell off the broom when I was so close to the floor of the Quidditch pitch. I wasn't even going that fast.

—Wait, on the Quidditch pitch? Where did you get a broom? First years are not allowed to have one.

—I used your brother's, Fred.

—Since when are you friends with them?

—Oh, I don't know, maybe since the two of you always seemed to not want to be my friends.

—Well... Don't think we don't like you, Leen, but you are always with Hermione. And she's, well...

—Come on, let's go have breakfast, I'm starving.

During our walk to the Great Hall, I spent most of the time arguing with Ron about Hermione not being so bad, although for the past couple of days she has been a bit mad with me since I didn't want to start studying for the exams... Which are not until June! June! And we're only in October. That's why I've been spending more time with Harry and Ron lately.

When we entered the Hall, we saw that Hermione and Neville were already at the Gryffindor table and since there was no other place to sit, we had to sit with them. Neville was so nervous that he looked like he was going to be sick at any moment... Ugh, I better sit next to Hermione.

—Where have you been all morning, Mione? You weren't in the room when I woke up.

—I woke up early, as always, and I saw that we would have our flight class today so I went to the library to look for a book about how to fly. I found this one called "Quidditch through the ages". Did you know that in the Quidditch World Cup in 1473 the 700 infractions that exist were committed?

Mental note: Hermione seems to forget that she was upset with you if you let her keep talking about a book.

—No, but I bet you already memori- ow! Eileen, why are you hitting me?

—Oops, sorry Ron, my foot slipped.

—But we are sitting!

Breakfast was a little boring, Hermione kept telling us everything she had read in the Quidditch book until the owls finally arrived with the mail, I didn't get anything, but Neville had been sent a Remembrall, which didn't surprise me in the least, I wonder how long it will take him to realize he forgot his cloak.

Several minutes had already passed and while Neville was still trying to remember what he had forgotten, Draco passed us and took the reminder from him, Harry and Ron looked like they were ready to fight with him as if they had been waiting for a long time, but luckily Professor McGonagall was close and stopped them before anything happened.

—What is happening?

—Malfoy took my Remembrall

—I was just looking.

He put the Remembrall back on the table and left, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. At 3:30, after classes, we walked down into the grounds for our first flying class, some students like Ron and Seamus were completely excited, while others like Hermione and Neville were still completely nervous.

Madam Hooch, the teacher, asked us to stand to one side of the brooms and yelled "up" so that the broom could fly into our hands; It only took me a couple of tries to finally get the broom in my hand, though Harry managed to do it on the first try, while Hermione's kept moving on the ground. Wow, the first time I'm better than her at something!

—Now, —Madam Hooch began to speak when everyone had the broom in their hands.— When I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard, rise a few feet and go back down. One, two...

But before the whistle blew, Neville was already climbing through the air, faster and higher and higher, until he finally fell face down on the grass, along with the sound of his dignity breaking.

—Broken wrist...

Oh no, he just broke his hand, it seems he still has some dignity.

—None of you is to move as I take him to the infirmary! If you do, you will be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch.

As soon as Madam Hooch was a couple of meters away from us Draco started laughing.

—Did you see that idiot's face?

The rest of the Slytherin and I started laughing, even though I chuckled and covered my hand, Hermione noticed it and hit me with her elbow, making me stop laughing.

—Shut up, Malfoy. —Parvati said.

—Sticking up for Longbottom? —Pansy said, giggling along with the other Slytherins.— I didn't think you liked fat little cry babies.

—Look, Longbottom's Remembrall. —Draco said as he picked it up off the ground.

—Put that down, Malfoy.

—Who will stop me, you, Potter? I'm going to leave it in a safe place... How about at the top of a tree?

—Give me that, Malfoy

But Draco had already climbed on his broom and was flying in the direction of the tallest tree and Harry began to climb on his broom, ignoring Hermione's complaints, he got on very easily and began to chase Draco, he flew so easily that even It looked like he had been on a broomstick since he was a baby.

They were flying so high that you couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were undoubtedly discussing something, suddenly I could see how Draco launched something and Harry began to fly down, with increasing speed,

He kept falling and falling that I worried that he would crash on the ground but just a foot from the grass he managed to grab the Remembrall and straighten the broom so that he would not crash.

—HARRY POTTER! In all my years... Never...

We heard that someone yelled at him from afar, first I thought Madam Hooch had returned from the infirmary, but it was Professor McGonagall (although for Harry it would probably have been better if it were Madam Hooch) and apparently, she had seen everything and seemed to be speechless, although I don't blame her, all of us had been left with our mouths open after seeing that impressive flight.

—How dare you? You could've broken your neck!

—Professor, it wasn't his fault.

—Be quiet, Miss Snape.

—But it was Malfoy...

—Not one more word, Weasley. Potter, come with me. Now.

After a few minutes, Madam Hooch returned and continued the class as if nothing had happened, luckily there was no other accident. I did so well in class that I started to love flying more and decided that I would try to enter the Quidditch team next year.

When the class was over, and after I slapped Draco on the head because Harry was probably going to be expelled because of him, we went to the common room to wait for him, but we did not see him again until dinner time when he had told us that instead of being expelled, McGonagall had made him the Seeker of the Quidditch team.

—But I thought Ron had said that first-years are not allowed to be on the team.

—That's right, you would be the youngest player in...

—A century, Wood told me, he also told me that I will start training next week, but don't tell anyone, he wants to keep it a secret.

Fred and George approached Harry and patted him on the back.

—Well done Harry. —George said, almost whispering.— Wood told us, we are also on the team, we are Beaters.

—Now we will win the Quidditch Cup this year. —Fred said.— We haven't won since Charlie left Hogwarts, so you have to do it right Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.

—Well, we have to go, Lee said he had found another passageway outside of Hogwarts.

—Surely it's the one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, we found him in our first week. Eileen, want to come with us?

—How come you invite her to do all kinds of things? I'm your brother!

—Hmm... I don't know... Is my father here?

—Nope. —They both said at the same time.

—Then, yes, let's go.

The three of us left the Hall (not without I first grabbed a chocolate muffin) and headed towards the fifth floor, where we saw Lee.

—You're finally here, guys. Oh hullo, you're Snape's daughter, right?

—I have a name, but yes. It's Eileen.

—Sorry, I forgot, haven't seen you since we met on the train. Anyway, I found a passageway behind the statue of...

—Gregory the Smarmy, we know, we already know it. —Fred and George said at the same time, which was a little scary every time they did it, it was as if they could read their minds and agree on what to say.

—Well, why didn't you tell me?

Lee seemed a little disappointed, Fred and George just lifted their shoulders, trying to downplay the issue.

—Well, where does the passage lead? —I asked.

—Hogsmeade.

—Hogsmeade? Really?

—That's right, although there is no point in going now, probably all the stores are already closed.

—I don't care! I have never been there, so we have to go!

It didn't take long to convince them to go, I was completely excited that I was even skipping every time I walked, I knew that third years and up can visit Hogsmeade, but I can't wait that long, so I wanted to go now.

We went into the passageway, which was a little small (although unlike the boys, I did not have to bend down so that my head did not hit the ceiling) and we started walking, it was a little dark, but they conjured Lumos and we could see where to step thanks to the light that came out of their wands.

We walked for a good time, I even thought it would just be a dead-end passage but then I started seeing a light that didn't come from the wands, it was the moonlight. We came out of an alley that was near the Hogsmeade station, even though it was dark, now I could see everything better, without the nerves of knowing in which house I would be sorted.

—Wow...

—Incredible, right?

The boys took me to see the whole town, although I could only see the stores from the outside because they were all closed that did not take away the emotion. I was in Hogsmeade!

—And this is Zonko, the best store where you can buy things to make jokes. Georgie, remember we should buy more stink bombs next time we come.

—I bet if you open your own store you would be much better.

—That is not a bad idea. —Fred said as he smiled at me and awkwardly tried to grab one of my hands.

—I think we should go. —Lee said, looking at his watch in his left hand.— It's almost 11, it's past the curfew.

We returned through the tunnel through which we arrived, Fred and George were covering the entrance again when in the distance we saw Filch and Mrs Norris, he was walking quickly towards us, so we started running, regardless if the passageway was covered or not.

As I was still wearing my cloak and it was a bit too big, it was no surprise that I tripped over it, Lee and George kept running towards the common room while Fred helped me to get up and we hid behind one of the statues just in time to see Filch and his cat walk past us.

—As soon as I find out who they are, I will give them their due punishment, Mrs Norris...

We stayed in hiding for a few minutes after he left and when we heard him yell something at Peeves we knew it was safe to get out.

—Wow, that was close. —I said laughing and trying to catch some air.— We should leave before someone else comes back or finds us, I haven't had detention in a while but I really don't want one.

Luckily the common room was not far, so we arrived in no time. George and Lee were already there, waiting for us.

—Now we can't use that passageway again, clearly, he already knows that it exists so he will be constantly watching over it. For a moment I thought you wouldn't make it, Gred.

—Don't doubt our abilities, Feorge. This was fun, Mini Snape, we should do it again another day.

—Yeah, I had fun too, don't think twice to invite me again when you go to Hogsmeade. See you later guys.

I said goodbye to the three of them and went up to my room, it wasn't that late, maybe around 11:30 but the other girls were already asleep, although I imagined that Hermione would stay awake to find out how many rules I had broken but as obviously I didn't want to wake her up so she couldn't ask me a thousand questions. (That would be Eillen's problem tomorrow) I put on my pyjamas as quiet as possible and went to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


	9. Year One - Chapter Nine

—A... What with three what?

—A giant dog with three heads, Leen.

—Yeah, I heard you, Ron, but... what would something like that be doing here at Hogwarts? You don't think they use it for detentions... Right?

—No, but we're sure he's looking after something, something I saw Hagrid pull out of a Gringotts vault, but we don't know what it is.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Ron told me all about the great adventure they had without me! And in which Hermione was apparently involved in some way, so now she was upset and didn't want to be with them, which benefited me because she couldn't ask me about what I was doing last night.

When the owls arrived with the mail, I was surprised to see that six owls brought a large package, which they left in front of Harry. When he finished reading the note he had, he passed it to us, and you could see how excited he was.

—A Nimbus 2000! I had never touched one.

We quickly left the Great Hall, I no longer cared that I had not finished eating, the excitement was so great to see the broom. I had never been a big fan of Quidditch, but I couldn't deny that it was exciting to be able to see (and possibly use!) the fastest broom of all.

—Oh no.

The three of us stopped when we saw Draco and the idiots of Crabbe and Goyle, they approached us and Draco took the broom from Harry, removing the paper that was wrapping it to see what the package contained.

—Draco, give it back to Harry.

—It's a broom. —He said, ignoring me completely and then throwing it back at Harry.— Do you really think that just because you're the _great Potter_ , they will ignore the fact that first-year students can't have a broom?

—And it's not just any broom, Malfoy. It's a Nimbus 2000. Which one do you have, a Comet 260? They are nothing compared to a Nimbus.

—What would you know, Weasley, if you can't even afford half the handle?

—Draco, stop it.

—You and your brothers have to gather the broom twig by twig. —He ignored me again, well, if Flitwick gives him detention, it won't be because I didn't try to warn him.

—You're not fighting, are you guys?

—Professor, Potter has been sent a broom.

—Ah yes, I am aware of Potter's special permission. What model is it?

—It's a Nimbus 2000, Professor. And the truth is that I have it thanks to Malfoy.

I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Draco's face when he found out that Flitwick wouldn't do anything to Harry for having the broom; we left and climbed the stairs before he tried to do something else to try to get Harry in trouble.

—And it's true, if it hadn't been for Malfoy taking Neville's Remembrall, I wouldn't be on the team.

—And you think it's a prize for breaking the rules? —We turned to see who the person behind us was, I wasn't surprised to see that it was Hermione.

—I thought you weren't talking to us.

—And don't stop, please, we're better this way.

—Ron! —I punched Ron on the shoulder, I wasn't talking to her that much right now, but there was no reason to tell her that.— Hey, Mione...

And she left, without even turning to see me, why is everyone ignoring me!? Did I finally die of boredom in Binns class and now I'm a ghost too?

—I don't understand why you defend her so much, Leen. She is an unbearable know-it-all.

—Shut up Ron, you're starting to sound like my father.

I kept going up the stairs, leaving them behind, but I could still hear Ron's cry of horror in the distance _'Snape? Ugh, no!_

I went up to the common room and walked up to the first-years room to get my bag, I don't know why I don't just go down to breakfast with it, it would be easier instead of having to climb so many stairs, but at least it helps me to 'exercise'. As I left the room and went down the stairs, I saw Fred and George, who looked very suspicious since they had their heads together and made sure that no one saw or heard them.

—So, planning something and you don't invite me. I'm hurt.

—Hey, mini Snape, come closer to tell you the plan. —I sat down on the floor between them.

—We must warn you first that this is a dangerous plan, —George began to speak.— you could even die.

—What? Die?

—Well, maybe even worse, expelled. —They both looked at each other and started laughing, I just looked at them with a more confused face than when I try to understand what the hell Quirrell is trying to tell us in class.

—What the _Nargles_ are you talking about? How could it be worse to be expelled than to die?

—Nargles? What is that?

—I don't know, I read it in a magazine a long time ago and I just thought it was a funny word. But, why being expelled is worse than dying?

—We'll tell you about that later, it was something we heard last night. Anyway, —Fred continued.— It's not as dangerous as expelling us, but we will probably be in detention for the rest of the year if we get caught. You see, since it's Hallowe'en, in Zonko's there are great deals, so we want to go.

—And why didn't you go before? I heard there was a trip to Hogsmeade a few days ago.

—Because the offers are only made on Hallowe'en So? Are you coming? Keep in mind that you would have to miss the first class, mini Snape.

I was thinking for a few moments, I really wanted to go, but risk a whole year of detention? Although, what was the chance that they would catch us? The castle is huge anyway and there is no way of knowing that we got out...

—I don't know... Let me see. Go to Hogsmeade or go to Quirrell's class? Hmm, difficult choice...

—Is that a yes, Leen?

—That, my dear George, is a big yes. But how are we going to get out? Filch will be guarding the fifth-floor passage.

—We know of others, Leen, but anyway, we don't have to worry, we have a small object that will help us know where he is. Now, we will go for our backpacks to hide what we buy, we advise you to leave your books in your room, it will be annoying to be carrying around so many useless things.

—Also, put other clothes under your uniform, if they see us like this in Hogsmeade, they will know that we left, and we will be in serious trouble.

I went back up to my room and began to empty my backpack, not realizing that I was not the only one in the room.

—What are you doing?

—Ah, Lavender, hi... I, uh, grabbed the wrong books, I thought today was Wednesday.

—No, today is Thursday.

—I know that, thank you.

She left the room and I waited a few seconds to see if she didn't come back, luckily she didn't so I kept taking my things out, hiding them in my trunk just in case someone came in and realized I wasn't in class, I also put some money that I had no idea I had kept in my trunk.

I put on a green shirt under my school shirt and put a pair of pants in my backpack because even though I had the cloak, people could tell that I would have pants under the skirt. I went down to the common room and the twins were already there waiting for me.

—Ready, mini Snape?

—Ready, Fred. And you should try to find another nickname for me, if my father hears you, he will kill you.

He shrugged, dismissing it, sometimes I wonder if he has a suicide wish.— I like it.

The three of us left the common room and started walking through the corridors, everyone should be in a class by now, so it felt strange that the castle was completely silent during the day.

—And what is that _'thing'_ that will help us to not get caught?

—It's a map, Leen.

—A map? Are you telling me that I will never learn to walk the halls of Hogwarts and will need help from a map? I've been here for two months now and I feel like I haven't seen even half of this place.

—It's a magic map.

—Oh sure, how did I not think of it? —They both laughed, and Fred started pulling something out of his pockets.— What does that map do? How can you be sure that we won't get caught?

—I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

—We already know, Fred, but you could say it louder, I don't think Filch heard you.

I looked at the 'map', which was only an old parchment, but then I noticed that something began to be written on it, Fred passed it to me and I began to observe it, little dots with names began to appear under them, they were the names of all the people who were inside a classroom, having class right now.

—But how is it possible? Does it really show everyone at Hogwarts?

—That's right, Leen. It shows us all and what they are doing, for example, your father is teaching right now.

George pointed his finger at a point on the map where _'Severus Snape'_ could be read, near him, there were several more points with various names, which could not be read completely because some stood in the way of others.

—And we're here. —I said, putting my finger on the three static dots, with the names _'Fred Weasley' 'Eileen Snape'_ and _'George Weasley'._ — Wow, this is amazing... Wait, someone's coming towards us... It's Dumbledore!

—Mischief managed. —George said, pointing at the map with his wand and began to put the map away as fast as he could when we saw Dumbledore come out of a corridor.

—Ah! Good morning, kids, you won't be doing anything that you shouldn't, right?

—What? Us? No, never, not at all, I don't even know what we could be doing. —I said quickly because of my nerves, if he hadn't realized that we were trying to do something, now he knew it because of me.

—Very good, very good... You know, today is a good day to walk and eat lemon sherbets, but unfortunately yesterday I ate the last one I had in my office... Maybe I could go to Honeydukes to buy more, although as Headmaster I am very busy these days... Anyway, enjoy the rest of the day, see you at the Hallowe'en feast.

And he kept walking as if nothing had happened. Did he just ask us to buy him more sweets? Does he somehow know we're going to Hogsmeade?

—That was weird, Gred.

—It definitely was, Forge.

After the strange moment with Dumbledore, we continued walking towards where the passageway was, after checking the map and checking that Filch was on the first floor, we approached the statue of Gregory the Smarmy and entered the passageway; before reaching the end and leaving the station, we took off our school uniform, the boys turned to give me some privacy as I took off my skirt and put on my pants, as soon as I finished, we left the clothes in a box and we headed out towards Hogsmeade.

It was nothing compared to seeing it at night to seeing it during the day, with all the stores open, I was amazed again as if it was my first time here. We saw several children running through the streets, so I was no longer nervous that they would know that we left Hogwarts.

We went to Zonko's first and the place was amazing, it was so colourful and there were so many boxes with objects to make jokes. I walked over to the shelves to see everything there, like the famous dung bombs along with the fake scrolls and invisible ink. After a while of watching the twins put mountains of items on the counter, they finally paid for them.

—Well, mini Snape, we already bought everything we needed, is there anything you want to buy? If you don't have money, we can lend you some.

—Thanks, but I found some money in my trunk, I didn't even know it was there. Let's go to Honeydukes, Aunt Cissy hasn't sent me candy in a while and I'm going crazy without it.

Both kept all their purchases in their backpacks, and they had to put some things in mine, since there were so many that they did not fit, and it almost seemed that their backpacks were about to explode.

We left Zonko's and headed to Honeydukes, I could see the piles of candy from outside the windows and it made my mouth water. When we walked inside, it was like I was in paradise, there were sweets everywhere and I felt literally like a little girl in a candy store.

I started grabbing loads of sweets, like licorice wands, sugar quills, chocolate bars, and of course lemon sherbets for Dumbledore, because if we weren't for him, we'd probably be in detention right now so I could at least return the favor.

—The total would be 7 Sickles and 14 Knuts.

After paying, I put my sweets in my backpack and we returned back to the castle, it had already been 30 minutes since the first class started, so if we took longer to return we would go out just when the corridors are completely full and we would run the risk of being seen leaving the statue.

When we entered the corridor we put on our uniform again, but now I left my pants under my cloak and skirt because it couldn't fit inside my backpack and none of us knew a spell to make it smaller, so that was the best way I could hide it and we returned to the castle, but it was not necessary to check the map to see if someone was nearby, because we began to hear voices.

—I'm pretty sure it's those three, Professor McGonagall, none of them are in their classes, and besides, I'm pretty sure they were the ones I saw leaving the statue yesterday along with Mr. Jordan.

From the way his voice sounded, I could already imagine him putting on his worst smile, thinking that he had finally caught us and was seeing us on the train heading home.

—Well, Jordan is in the infirmary because he apparently ate something he shouldn't have, probably some of the nonsense they buy at Zonko's, I spoke to him and he said he didn't know anything about the tunnel or where Messrs. Weasley and Miss Snape where

—Are you completely sure, Filch? I remind you that it is my daughter that you are accusing of leaving the castle.

—I'm sorry, Professor Snape, but no one knows where she is.

—Well, then what are you two waiting for? Professor Snape, could you please help open this passage?

That was our signal to run out of there, I ran like I had never done before, and it was even more difficult because the pants were in the way and it's really uncomfortable. It was very likely that they could hear our shoes hitting the ground, but that didn't matter to me, I just wanted to get out of the tunnel and get to the castle in another way.

—What do we do now?

I almost yelled at the boys, but I was nervous, I was scared, and I could already see my father being completely disappointed and angry with me, followed by me on the train going back to the Malfoy Manor for being expelled.

—Don't worry, Leen, there are other passages, let's go.

George started to run and Fred and I followed him, I wasn't even paying attention because of fear so I did not know well where we got, but we entered a dark tunnel again and started running. When we reached what looked like the end of the tunnel, George took out the map and after checking that the corridor was completely alone, we got out and ran to the common room as fast as we could.

When we were in the common room, I went straight to my room to put away the sweets at the bottom of my trunk and took off my pants and shirt, I didn't want to have anything that would give me away. I went downstairs with my books in hand and the backpack and I gave it to Fred so that he could go and hide the things from Zonko's that they had kept in my backpack and when he returned I put all the books inside the backpack and began to feel more relaxed.

—Well, if anyone asks, I was in the girls' bathroom all morning because I had a stomachache. Don't you dare to use my lie.

We were talking until it was time to go to the second class, I said goodbye to the boys and went on my way to the Charms classroom. When I arrived I could see how Hermione almost wanted to kill me with a look, probably for skipping classes. Oops, my only friend and I was already completely pushing her away from me.

—Where were you, Leen? We didn't see you in Quirrell's class.

—I'll tell you later, Ron.

We entered the room and Professor Flitwick put us in pairs to practice the Levitation charm, Harry was with Seamus, Ron with Hermione and I had been paired with Neville.

We hadn't been lucky so far, but at least we weren't doing as badly as Harry and Seamus, who had managed to set their feather on fire. I had only managed to get it to get up a second and then fall back to the table, while Neville couldn't even get it to move or something.

—It's Win- _gar_ -dium levi-o-sa, you must pronounce the gar clearer. —I stopped paying attention to my feather and was now paying attention to the conversation Hermione was having with Ron.

—If you are so smart, why don't you do it?

Oh, Ron, you are about to be humiliated, I knew Hermione knew how to do the spell as I had already seen her do it a few times when we were in the room.

Just like I had thought, Hermione's feather began to fly over our heads, on Ron's face you could only see so much annoyance and envy at the same time as Flitwick continued to congratulate Hermione.

At the end of the class, I left together with Harry and Ron, I was about to tell them what had happened in the morning, but Ron started talking.

—She's a nightmare, I swear. I'm not surprised that no one can stand her, and she doesn't have friends, you don't even hang out with her anymore, Leen.

—Ron, that- —But I couldn't finish the sentence, because someone had bumped into my shoulder, it was Hermione who walked away from us and seemed to be crying. — Ron, you are an idiot.

I ran after her, calling her, almost screaming, because she was a bit far away, which made several students from other years look at me ugly. I collided with a seventh year Slytherin girl, causing me to fall to the ground.

—Watch where you're going, Gryffindork. — The girl looked like she was about to hit me, but luckily one of her friends took her arm and stopped her.

—Eleanor don't do it, she's Snape's daughter.

I smirked when I saw how the girl turned completely pale, and she could hardly speak.

—I'm sorry, be more careful.

Both girls left almost running, I laughed while I was on the ground and then I got up, shaking the dirt from my clothes, I looked towards where I had seen Hermione for the last time, but obviously, she was not there anymore, she had probably already gone to Binns class. I decided not to continue looking for her and would wait to talk to her before class, so I went directly to the classroom, but to my surprise, she never made it to that class or the others.

After class I started looking for her everywhere; In the library, in our room, I even went with Hagrid to look for her, but he hadn't seen her. I went to the Great Hall, expecting to see her there, knowing that she would not skip dinner, but before arriving, I ran into Lavender and Parvati.

—Hey! Hi, uhm... Have you seen Hermione?

—Yeah, she's in the girls' bathroom, she was crying, but she didn't want anyone to bother her.

—Thank you.

I was on my way to the girls' bathroom, but I saw Ron behind Parvati, so I went up to him and smacked him in the head with my hand, after that I was on my way to the bathroom. When I walked in, I could hear Hermione's little sobs.

—Mione?

—Leave me alone, Eileen.

—Mione, ignore what Ron said, he's just an idiot and doesn't know what he's saying.

—It's easy for you to say that; you can easily talk to anyone, and everyone likes you, Harry, Ron, the twins… But I just can't ignore what Ronald said.

—Do you really think everyone likes me? Some of the other older students are basically afraid of me because of my father, they won't even tell me the time, but I've learned not to care about that. And you should too, especially because everything Ron said was lies, you are not a nightmare.

—He wasn't lying, nobody likes me, and I don't have friends, you don't hang out with me anymore.

—It's a lie, Mione. I admit that lately, I've hung out more with them than with you, but it's because I'm an awful friend, you seemed upset that I didn't want to study for final exams and I made the easy choice to go with them instead of talking to you. I'm sorry.

I heard the lock on the door and then the door opened at the same time a horrible smell began to invade my nose; I tried not to make a face so that Hermione wouldn't feel bad but the moment she looked at me, she screamed, I turned to see what it was and I could see a huge troll at least 12 feet tall, I screamed like never before I had and I think I hurt my throat because no sound was coming out of my mouth anymore.

If it hadn't been for Hermione grabbing my arm and throwing me into the sinks, I'd be crushed under the club by now. We both went as far away as we could from the troll, trying to hide under the sinks, but it was useless, the troll kept advancing towards us, destroying several of the sinks.

Hermione seemed to be completely in shock, so instead of peeing myself I took what little courage I had (although I have no idea where it came from) and pointed my wand at the troll, but it was useless because I still couldn't say anything it anyway, luckily I saw Harry and Ron enter, who began to distract the troll.

The troll started to approach Harry, ready to hit him with his club, but Ron threw a metal pipe at him that made him get distracted and put his attention on Ron, Harry yelled for us to move, but Hermione did not respond, I tried to lift her from the arm, but I wasn't strong enough to move.

Just when I thought this was our end, I saw how Harry jumped towards the troll and hung on his neck, sticking his wand inside his nose, making him start to shake and Harry did his best not to fall, at any moment he would be crushed by the troll if we didn't do something quickly, I drew my wand again, hoping that now I could say something, but I was still mute and my throat hurt more and more.

—Wingardium Leviosa! —Ron managed to make the club fly out of the troll's hands, rising to the ceiling and landing on top of the troll's head, causing the troll to stagger and finally fall face down on the ground.

—Is it dead? —I heard a voice behind me and knew that Hermione had already recovered from the shock.

—I don't think so. —Harry said, pulling the mucus-covered wand from the troll's nose and wiping it on the troll's skin. — He's just unconscious.

We kept looking at the troll without saying anything until a strong sound took us out of our thoughts, it was Professor McGonagall, followed by Quirrell and... Great, my father.

—What were you thinking!? —Screamed Professor McGonagall looking at us completely angry. —You're lucky it didn't kill you! Why weren't you in the common room with the other students?

Quirrell was simply lying near one of the bathrooms, I didn't realize he passed out. My father was examining the troll and as soon as he got up, I couldn't look him in the eye, so I looked at the floor.

—Professor, it's not their fault... They were looking for me. I came to look for the troll because I thought I could handle it, if it had not been for them, I would be dead.

I couldn't help but drop my wand as soon as I heard such a lie, I couldn't believe that Hermione was lying for us, Ron also dropped his wand, the three of us were surprised that Hermione was lying to McGonagall, I tried to say something, but still couldn't and it only made my throat hurt even more.

—Well, Granger... You're a fool. How do you think you could beat a troll by yourself? Gryffindor will be deducted 10 points because of you. Potter, Weasley, Snape, you may have been lucky, but not many first-years could have beaten a troll anyway, each of you gets 5 points.

I tried again to say something, it wasn't fair that they only punished Hermione when I was here too and it wasn't fair to receive points when I didn't do anything to help, but my throat still hurt and I sighed in frustration.

—Miss Snape? Is there something you want to say?

—Uh, professor, Eileen screamed when we saw the troll and I think she hurt her throat, she hasn't been able to say anything since.

I nodded, putting my right hand on my throat, when I did that, I could see my father's concerned face.

—If that's the case, Snape, could you take your daughter to the infirmary?

My father grabbed my arm and led me out of the bathroom, I started walking in the direction of the infirmary, but he took me by the arm again and led me in the direction of the dungeons.

We didn't say anything on the way (it's not like I could) and as soon as we entered his office, he sat me in a chair and started looking for something in his cabinets.

—I can't believe you thought of doing such a stupid thing, you should have gone to some prefect or professor if you knew that Granger's know-it-all was going to look for the troll. Couldn't you just go to the tower with your house? 2 months! 2 months you've been here and you almost managed to get yourself killed.

I got mad because of all the things he was saying, I got mad because he called my best friend a know-it-all, I got mad because he thought I was stupid enough to try to kill a troll, I got mad about everything so I kicked his desk with my foot.

—And you also have the nerve to be angry at me? I am the one who should be angry, skipping classes today, I can assure you that it was also you who left the castle and on the same day you dare to go for a troll... By Merlin, I do not understand what is wrong with you. Do you want me to get you out of Hogwarts? Do you want to go back to the Malfoys that much?

I didn't want to, but I began to feel the tears falling down my cheeks, he just walked away from the cabinet and gave me a bottle with a blue liquid.

—You're lucky I had one already made, it takes a month to prepare. Take it, you should get your voice back in a few minutes.

I drank the bottle right away, ignoring the horrible taste, I began to feel my throat stop burning and we waited a few minutes, in which the tears kept falling on my cheeks.

—Try to say something.

—I'm sorry. —My voice came out naturally, I didn't have to make any effort and my throat didn't burn anymore.

—Now, can explain why did you come up with such idiocy?

—I'm not an idiot, Dad! It would never occur to me to fight a troll, Hermione and I were already in the bathroom when it suddenly started to smell horrible and when I turned around, the troll was there.

—Where were you this morning when you were supposed to be in class?

—I was in the bathroom; I wasn't feeling well. —Wow, every time lying felt more natural and I didn't feel so bad about doing it. Merlin, am I becoming a bad person?

—And why didn't you go to the infirmary?

—I felt better after a while, but it was too late for class, so I went to the common room to wait.

I started to look at the ground, I was just tired and wanted to go to sleep when suddenly I felt him hugging me so hard like he was afraid I would disappear if he didn't. After that, he put his hand on my cheek while looking into my eyes.

—I know you're upset because I started lecturing you, but, think... You don't know… —He sighed, I knew it was difficult and strange for him to talk about his feelings.— I would die if anything ever happens to you.

—I'm sorry, Dad... I wish I were the perfect daughter you want me to be.

—You're already perfect, Eileen, you only make mistakes sometimes, like everyone else. Starting with your friends, they are a bad influence on you.

—Really? Should I start hanging out with Lavender and talking about guys all day? Or maybe with Neville, so my grades continue to go down. I could also team up with Crabbe and Goyle for a bigger stupid effect.

I started to laugh and saw how he just smiled a little, although it was a lot coming from him.

—I'll take you to your common room, it's already midnight and you shouldn't be walking around the castle at this time. Although it's not like you care much about the rules.

We left his office and walked in the direction of the tower, perhaps the thought that I could have died today scared him so much that he even held my hand the whole way.

We walked in without saying something, enjoying the silence of the castle. When we got to the tower and I walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady, I told her the password and I was about to enter through the hole in the wall.

—Eileen.

I turned to see him, without moving from where I was.

—Yes?

—Happy Birthday.


	10. Year One - Chapter Ten

Barely a few days had passed after the troll incident and my father hadn't mentioned anything about that, in fact, he hadn't spoken to me again at all, not even in class; I did not know if he still had the suspicion that George, Fred and I were the ones who left the castle that day, although there was no way they knew that it was us, nobody had seen us and we hadn't left something to give us away, so the only thing they could have was suspicion.

I don't know if he just forgot the situation or if he is waiting to punish me at the worst moment, I only know that the best thing, for now, is just going to class and not looking for problems, which is the only thing I have been doing; wake up, eat, go to class and spend the whole day locked in the library with Hermione, I was already starting to despair and had even started thinking of some pranks I could play on Filch, but I knew that would make my punishment worse so I had to settle with making the jokes in my dreams.

—Hey, mini Snape.

—Fred? What are you doing here? I didn't think you were the type of person who studied in his spare time. Or that you studied at all. Blimey, I didn't even think you knew where the library was

—Ha-ha, very funny. I came looking for you, Ron told me you'd be here.

—You were looking for me? —I couldn't help blushing a little, I always felt like a fool when I was alone with Fred without George being around.— Why?

—Just come with me.

—Uhm, okay? Mione...

—It's fine, anyway, I have to look for Harry too, he asked me to borrow him the Quidditch Through the Ages so he could distract himself from tomorrow's game.

I put all my books and scrolls in my backpack; I was a little worried that Fred would get me in more trouble when I had managed to do nothing these days.

—Where are we going, Fred?

—I just want to go for a walk.

—Fred, come on, I love spending time with you, but I don't want to get in trouble for at least the rest of the year, my father already suspects that we left the castle yesterday and I don't want to give him any more reasons to ground me for life.

—We're just going for a walk; we can't get in trouble for that.

—Fine... but just a walk!

We started walking without any destination in mind, as it was Friday, everyone was outside in the gardens, so the castle was very quiet.

—Can you tell me what are you planning?

—No, now stay here and close your eyes.

—Fred!

—Come on, trust me

I sighed and closed my eyes; I heard his footsteps grow fainter and then there was just silence. Had he left me here alone?

—Fred? Are you still here? —I tried to call him still without opening my eyes, after a few seconds I heard footsteps approaching me again.

—Yeah, open your eyes.

When I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was Fred's cute brown eyes, I was lost in them for a few seconds and then I realized that in his hands he had a small box and when I opened it I saw that it was a cake!

—A... A cake? Why?

—Well, your birthday was a few days ago and I didn't even congratulate you so...

—But how did you know? I didn't tell anyone, not even Hermione.

—I overheard McGonagall talking with your father about you and they brought it up.

—They were talking about me? Wow, it's... weird, knowing that I'm in the conversation of two adults. Anyway, you didn't have to give me something, a congratulation would have been enough.

—You deserve it, especially since it is rare for an 11-year-old, well, now 12, to defeat a troll just hours before her birthday.

As there were no chairs or benches in the hallway, we sat on the floor, although it wasn't uncomfortable. We started eating the cake with some forks that Fred had also brought.

—How did you know about that? Did Ron tell you?

—Come on. Do you really think something like that would have stayed a secret? The whole castle knows it. How come you haven't noticed?

—Well, two reasons; I am extremely inattentive and, I have spent every day in the library, as I told you, I'm trying not to get in trouble... This cake is delicious. Where did you get it? From the kitchen?

—Hogsmeade.

—What!? Did you go out again even though we almost got caught that day?

—It was worth it.

—No, Fred, you really shouldn't have, I'd hate to know that I would have been the reason for your expulsion if they had seen you.

He just lifted his shoulders a little and continued eating cake, why he got to the point where he could get expelled just to get me a cake?

—Why didn't you tell anyone about your birthday? You don't like it?

—Mmm, it's not really that I don't like it, but my aunt and uncle never made it look like something important, they only congratulated me and I received a letter from my father that day, so I'm just used to it being a day like any other. Thanks for the cake, by the way, it's the first one I get.

—What was it like? To live with the Malfoys?

—It was… Normal, I suppose, I was taught the manners a pureblood child should know, even though I'm half-blood. I would spend most of the day in the library or playing with Draco. Nothing out of the ordinary.

—But you never had a birthday party before or even just a cake, that's not normal.

—It's normal for me, okay?

—And what about Professor Snape?

—What about him?

—How is he, you know? With you?

—Dad acts differently with me than with everyone else if that's what you're wondering. He's not cold-hearted, he loves me and cares about me. And sometimes I wish people would understand that instead of saying awful things about him…

Fred took my hand in his and we interlocked our fingers, when he did this, I felt something strange in my chest and suddenly I felt very happy, although of course, life hates me, and that happiness did not last that long.

—What do you think you are doing? —McGonagall was at the end of the hall and began to walk towards us, Merlin, I can't even breathe without some teacher wanting to take points from me!

—We're not doing anything wrong, Professor, we're just sitting here, talking.

—Sure, and it had to be just in this hallway? Sorry, Miss Snape, but I know you both well enough to know that something else must be going on. 5 points will be taken for each of you and you will have detention. Mr Weasley, you will have your detention today. Miss Snape, yours will be held tomorrow.

—That's unfair! We're not doing anything. What's wrong with being in a hallway? We're not even skipping classes.

—I'm sorry Miss Snape, but after what happened on Hallowe'en I can't take any chances, besides, it's not a simple corridor, we're on the third floor, the one the Headmaster made very clear at the start of the year that it was forbidden to be here. Now please go to the tower. Weasley, to my office.

—Professor, if anyone should have detention, it must be me. I was the one who brought Eileen into this hall, she was just in the library doing nothing.

—I'm sorry, but I won't change my mind, Mr Weasley, clean this up and I'll meet you in my office in 15 minutes.

I couldn't believe it, apparently, it didn't matter if I didn't do anything wrong because I would end up in trouble anyway.

—I'm sorry Eileen, I promised I wouldn't get you in trouble and I still did.

—Don't worry, it wasn't intentional.

I picked up what little was left of the cake and put it in the box, grabbed my backpack and left without saying goodbye to Fred. I felt a little bad about leaving like this, but at the same time I didn't know what to feel; on the one hand, if he had never gone to the library for me, then I would never have gotten into trouble, but it is not like he would have thought that some teacher would see us... Which makes me wonder if he knew where we were and he just didn't care, in that case... Was it all his fault? Ag, this is so confusing!

I got to the common room and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting in one of the armchairs, near the window, away from the others, I approached them and sat next to Ron, who was doing Charms homework and I continued eating what little was left of the cake.

—Where did you get that cake, Leen? —Ron said, while taking a bit of frosting with his index finger.

—Nowhere.

—Lee, your father made up a silly rule so he could take the Quidditch Through the Ages book from me and I really want it back. Could you talk to him?

—I'm sorry Harry, I can't help you. Since Halloween my relationship with him has turned from bad to worse.

—Well, then I'll go ask him.

—I wouldn't do it. —Ron and Hermione said at the same time. Harry ignored them and got up from the couch.

—Hey, Harry.

—What, Eileen?

—What kind of flowers do you want for your funeral?

He growled and left the common room, Ron kept doing his homework and Hermione was reading a book, I just kept eating my cake. After about 15 minutes Harry came back and it looked like he had seen a ghost... Well, rather... A... Something that wasn't pretty to see.

—Did you get it?

—No, but… He turned to see me and then continued to look at the ground. — It was just him and Filch in the teachers' room and Snape, he... Well... He had an injured leg, Filch was helping him with some bandages and he said something about 'watching three heads at the same time'. That means he tried to pass where the three-headed dog is! I bet my broomstick he let the troll in on Hallowe'en to distract everyone and go get what's hidden there!

I was speechless. The three of them looked at me as if waiting for me to confirm what Harry said, but... what the hell was my father trying to do?

—I don't think he did, he wouldn't dare steal something that Dumbledore is trying to keep safe.

—Hermione, not all teachers are saints!

—She's right, Ron. Dumbledore probably asked the teachers to keep an eye on that thing. Today I was in the corridor on the third floor and McGonagall passed by and gave me detention just for sitting there, so surely my father also went to make sure everything was okay and was bitten. Just an accident.

—I dunno, I think Harry's right. On Hallowe'en, when we were looking for you, we saw him heading to the third floor instead of the dungeons, like all the other teachers. If he doesn't want to steal what's in there then why he went there when everyone else was worried about the troll?

—You are all idiots.

I got up from the couch and went straight to the room, without speaking to anyone; Fred, who had already returned from his detention, took my hand, probably to try to apologize again, but I was so angry that I just shook my hand to let him go and went up the stairs.

When I got to the room I laid on my bed, I didn't take off my shoes, or my cloak or anything, I just lay back, closed my eyes and fell asleep.


	11. Year One - Chapter Eleven

_Eileen Snape._

_Your detention will be held in the library, today at 11 a.m. The librarian will explain to you what to do._

_Minerva McGonagall._

—But the Quidditch match is at that hour! -I said as I reread the note that arrived at breakfast. Why didn't she just give me detention with Fred yesterday? Why does it have to be today?

—What's wrong, Eileen?

—Nothing, Neville, I'll just have detention during the first game of Quidditch. I can't believe I'm so unlucky, I'll explode if something else happens to me.

I was still mad at Harry and Ron for what they said last night, so when I walked into the Great Hall and saw them sitting together with Hermione, I had no choice but to sit away from them, with Neville. After rereading the note one last time, I crumpled the letter and turned it into a ball, then I tossed it on the table.

—One point from Gryffindor for littering, Eileen. —I turned around and saw my father standing behind me. Merlin, just take me now!

—You've got to be kidding me! —This caught the attention of everyone in the hall because I was almost screaming, suddenly everything was quiet and I could feel their gaze on me.

—And another 5 points for yelling at me.

He left and I could see how he limped a bit when he walked as if he was hurt... Oh no, I didn't really think about what Harry told us last night, especially since I didn't want to believe it was true, but... What if he actually went to see the dog and was bitten? What if everything had gone awful? Well... Even more awful than it already was?

I got up and left my breakfast half-eaten, I walked past Hermione and Harry, ignoring them when they tried to get my attention; when I walked through the doors of the hall, I could see my father, heading to the dungeons, so I hurried my step to get to his side.

—Dad...

—Was it not enough for you to lose 6 points already? Do you want detention?

—No thanks, I already have one anyway...

—What?

-No, nothing... Anyway, I came because... Well... —He stopped walking and turned to see me, with a frown on his face.— When you left the hall I saw that you were walking strangely and I wanted to know if you were okay.

Obviously, I wasn't going to tell him that I knew about the dog, or what Harry had told me, but I was still very worried.

—Why do you ask?

—Um, I just told you, I saw you walking strangely.

—It's nothing you should be concerned about.

—But...

—Evan! —If it wasn't bad that he called me by my second name, he spoke in that strange way where even though it didn't sound like more than a whisper, it felt like he was yelling at you at the top of his lungs.

—Fine! Merlin, I'm sorry to worry about my father, maybe next time I won't care if that dog bites you-

Uh-oh.

—What!? —He grabbed me by my arm hard, so hard that it even started to hurt. —How did you know about that!?

—Dad... You're hurting me...

—And you could get hurt if you keep going to where you shouldn't! Worse still, you could die!

—I haven't gone anywhere! I just...I've only heard rumours... Dad, please, my arm is really hurting.

He finally released me and I started to rub my arm, I wouldn't be surprised if a bruise appears later.

—What have you heard about it? From whom?

—Nobody, nothing important... —I turned and started walking towards the library.

—Eileen, come back here.

—I have a detention to go, bye.

I knew that I would most likely get into a lot of trouble, I would probably be grounded until my last day at Hogwarts, but it bothered me that he thought I had gone to the third floor just to see what was there! Does he think I'm an idiot?

Although... I've given him a reason to think that, haven't I? After what happened with the troll... The worst part is that I didn't even go looking for the troll, but he still doesn't care... Well, then I won't care anymore if I keep getting in trouble, I always end up with detention anyway even if I don't do something.

On my way to the library, I saw everyone going to the Quidditch pitch; I was starting to really like it because Fred and I would often go flying on our free times and we would pretend to play a little, it was more fun than when I played with Draco, besides, even though I'm upset with Harry, it's his first game and I wanted to go support him.

I walked into the library and Madam Pince glared at me with such hatred, maybe because she thought she would finally have a student-free day in the library since everyone will be at the game.

—Professor McGonagall told me that you would give me my detention.

—So, you're Professor Snape's daughter. We expected better things from you.

—Everyone expects better things from me. Glad to know that I can add another name to the list of people disappointed in me.

—You're completely insolent like...

—Like...?

—Nothing girl, now take this duster and start cleaning the bookshelves. Without magic. Give me your wand.

With a deep sigh, I took my wand out of a pocket of my robe and laid it on her desk; I took the duster and as I did so I hit a glass full of water that rolled until it crashed on the floor. I have no doubts, I am the most unlucky person in the world.

I bent down to pick up the pieces of glass and as I did so I cut myself with one on my left hand; it wasn't a big cut, but it was bleeding and it burned a little.

Madam Pince got up from her chair and with her wand managed to bring the pieces of glass back together in their glass shape.

—Couldn't you do that before I cut myself?

—Go to the infirmary to get that cleaned, I don't want you to go around leaving blood all over the books, when you're done with that, come back here. Your wand will stay here, to ensure that you do return.

I left the library and made a beeline to the infirmary, putting pressure with my right hand on the cut, it seems that it had been bigger than I thought and it was burning more and more. The infirmary was completely empty, except for a boy sleeping in one of the beds closest to the door; when Madam Pomfrey saw me come in, she quickly got up from her desk and started walking towards me.

—Miss Snape, are you okay? What happened to you?

—I'm fine, I just cut myself with a piece of glass. —I removed my hand from the cut so she could see it.

—Ah, yes, nothing to worry about. —She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the cut.— _Episkey._

My hand began to feel very hot and then very cold, but I could see how the cut began to disappear, leaving a small white line on my hand and only the blood remained on my hands.

— _Tergeo_. —Well, there was no blood now.— Be more careful next time, Miss Snape.

—I will. Thank you.

I left the infirmary and was really tempted to just go watch the game, but instead, I headed for the library again, I couldn't leave my wand there forever. After what seemed like hours (although I think it was only one) Madam Pince finally let me out and I walked to the Quidditch pitch, hoping it wasn't over yet.

On the way I ran into Harry, Ron and Hermione who were talking to Hagrid, when Ron and Harry saw me they seemed to be annoyed with me, Hermione just seemed confused. What did I do wrong now?

—Hi, Eileen.

—Hello, Hagrid.

—Why were yeh comin' from the castle? Weren't yeh at the match?

—No, I was in the library. Detention.

—O' course yeh were.

He chuckled and said goodbye to me, Harry went after him and Ron did the same, hitting my shoulder with his on purpose.

—What's wrong with them? Did we lose?

—No, we won...

—So, Mione? I would understand if they were upset about that, but I don't understand why they seem to be upset with me.

—We'll talk later, Leen.

She walked behind them, in the direction of Hagrid's hut, when I saw that they all entered the hut, I silently approached and stood under an open window so I could hear what they were saying.

—...Cursing your broom, Hermione and I saw him, he kept looking at you as he muttered something.

—Rubbish, Ron! Why would Snape do somethin' like that? An' yeh're friends with Eileen, how do yeh think she would feel if she knew that her father was bein' accused of cursin' Harry's broom?

—It must be a plan of them —Ron said.— She probably just became friends with Harry so that Snape or Eileen can do something to him... She considers the Malfoys as her family, did you know? They all were followers of You-Know-Who

—Ron! I can't believe you think those things, Leen is not like that.

—Come on Hermione, you always think that all people are saints. Besides, you know how Malfoy treats you and Eileen doesn't seem to mind, or has she ever said something to him? Has she ever defended you from him?

I don't know what hurt me more, that my 'friends' think those horrible things about me or that my best friend... My ex-best friend won't try to defend me.

—We found out something else about Snape. —This time it was Harry who was talking.— He tried to pass that three-headed dog to steal whatever it's taking care of, only he couldn't because the dog bit him.

I heard the sound of some metal hitting wood.

—What do yeh know 'bout Fluffy?

—Fluffy?

—Yeah, he's mine, bought him off a Greek I met in the pub las' year, I lent it to Dumbledore to guard... Nothing, that's top secret and yeh should leave now.

—But Snape tried to steal it!

—Rubbish, Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he won't do something like that.

—So why did he try to kill Harry!?

I began to feel the tears run down my cheeks, I didn't expect that. I didn't expect Hermione to really think that my father would try to kill someone, much less a student.

I got up from the ground (I hadn't even realized that I was sitting) and started running towards the castle, I didn't care if they heard me, I just wanted to get as far away from them as possible and went in the direction of the first place that came to mind. A place that I knew would be completely alone.

I entered the potions classroom carefully, checking that my father wasn't inside and I sat down on one of the chairs, I was surprised that the door was unlocked, but I didn't give it much thought. I put my arms on the table, leaned my head on them and let the tears fall on the table.

It didn't take long when I heard a door open, it sounded more distant than the door I just entered through, so it must have been one at the back of the room. Maybe one that connected the room with my father's office? I never heard the door close, but I did hear footsteps approaching me and then I felt like a hand rested on my back.

—Are you all right?

It was my father; I shook my head slowly; I didn't want to say something because he would realize that I'm crying.

—Do you want to talk about it? —I shook my head again and let out a sob. How can I explain to my father that my 'friends' thought he would try to kill someone?

He kept his hand on my back for a long time, making small circles on my back, he knew that always made me feel calm. When I managed to relax a bit and stop crying I raised my head a little but not enough because even if I wasn't crying anymore my eyes were probably still red and he would notice it. Although he probably already knew that I was crying.

—Dad...

—Yes?

—Would you try to hurt someone?

—Only if they are trying to hurt you.

A small smile appeared on my face and I got up to hug him.

—Eileen did someone do something to you?

—No... Well... They said some awful things... —My face was pressed against his clothes so my voice sounded a bit muffled.

—Ah, I assume it was Potter, Weasley and Granger?

—How did you know?

—Well, you weren't with them for breakfast, so I assumed you had a fight with them. Come.

He put his hand on my shoulder and led me to a door at the back of the room, where I assumed he had come from and I was right, it was connected to his office; I sat on the chair in front of his desk and he gave me a cup of tea.

He sat in front of me along with another cup, although it seemed like he was drinking coffee; I appreciated that we were just having our drinks in silence, I didn't feel like explaining what had happened because I knew that I would cry again.

—Why do you leave the classroom door unlocked? Are you not worried about a student coming in and taking something?

—It is always locked with various spells when I am not in class

—Well, today it wasn't, as you can see, I entered without any problem.

—No, I can assure you, it is closed right now. —I looked at him with confusion written all over my face.— What I mean, Eileen, is that for anyone else it is closed, but I modified the spells so that you can open the door without any problem.

—Oh... And aren't you worried I'm going to grab something from the supply closet?

—Are you thinking of taking something from there?

—Well, no.

—Then no, I am not worried. Besides, I also put on a spell that lets me know when you walk into the classroom or my office, that is why I knew you were there.

—Wow, for a second I thought you trusted me. —I said a little sarcastically, I had no reason to take anything from there and I didn't think I would ever have to do it without him knowing, but it was fun to tease him like that from time to time.

—You know that I trust you, but I know that if you are here it is for two reasons: either you are looking for me or something happened, like today, and I highly doubt you want to be here for no reason.

We continued drinking our drinks in silence. When we finished, I left his office and went in the direction of the common room, it was already lunchtime so everyone would be in the hall but I didn't feel like eating, much less to see those three, so I just went to my room, lay down on my bed and slept the rest of the day.


	12. Year One - Chapter Twelve

The last weeks of November and early December felt like an eternity, I couldn't wait for the holiday break to come and I could finally go to Malfoy Manor. I was still upset with Harry, Ron and Hermione, so now in class, I had to sit with Neville; after a while, I realized that he wasn't such bad company but I definitely got desperate when we had to work in pairs and our potion was ruined when he put the wrong ingredients.

—No, Neville!

—W-what?

—You have to crush the berries into a fine powder before adding them to the cauldron. Seriously, Neville, the instructions are in the book, you just have to follow them, it's not that difficult.

—Sorry...

I continued working with the rest of the Forgetfulness Potion, there were only three steps left so it didn't take long to finish it. After a few minutes my father got up from his desk to check our cauldrons, I was nervous, our the potion turned out a reddish-orange instead of orange, I don't know when Neville managed to ruin the potion, but he did.

—I need to talk to you after class, Eileen.

—Am I in trouble or something?

—No.

He finished making some notes about our potion and went to the table where Draco and Goyle were. I started cleaning the cauldron and storing the remaining ingredients in their jars.

—I'm sorry, Eileen.

—Why?

—For ruining the potion, I was re-reading the instructions and I noticed that after adding the Valerian sprigs we must mix 3 times, I did 4.

I sighed and kept putting the ingredients away, when I saw that everyone in the room was starting to leave, I grabbed my backpack and turned to see Neville.

—Read more carefully next time.

I let Neville finish cleaning the cauldron and walked as slowly as possible to my dad's desk, I hadn't done anything wrong these days, but I still couldn't help feeling a bit worried.

—What do you want to talk about?

—I received a letter from the Malfoys this morning. They have some business to attend to so you won't be able to go with them. You will have to stay in the castle for the Christmas holidays.

—But Professor McGonagall already has the list of those who will be staying in the castle.

—Don't worry, I'll talk with her.

I sighed, it didn't even make sense to bother me, nothing ever went the way I expected. I turned to see if anyone was still in the room but it was already empty, except for us.

—So, Draco will stay in the castle too?

—No, he will go with them.

—But then why can't I go too?

—Eileen, there's no point in discussing this, you will stay here.

—Fine... It will be nice to spend Christmas just you and me. It's the first time, right? Just the two of us.

—I believe the last time we spent Christmas alone you were still wearing diapers.

I began to hear footsteps in the room and conversations that grew lower and lower until they practically became whispers.

—You should go to your next class, Eileen, mine's here already.

I grabbed my bag, that I had put to the side of his desk and started to walk towards the door, but someone grabbed my arm and made me stop.

—Oh hey, George.

—Hey, Leen, listen, I'll say this quickly because your father is trying to kill me with his stare.

I turned around and my father was indeed looking at George like if he had just punched him in the face.

—There's snow outside, so we thought we would go out and have fun a little after class. Do you want to come with us?

—Sure, sounds like fun, I don't have any more classes today so I'll wait for you in the common room.

He let go of my arm and now I did leave the room without any other interruption, I went straight to the common room to be in front of the fireplace since the air in the hallways was freezing.

Luckily for me, the common room was almost empty, since everyone else has class at this time, there were only a few boys who appeared to be seventh years. I sat at one of the study tables closest to the fireplace and began to do my History of Magic essay.

After half an hour I had only made 10 cm of the 20 cm of parchment that Binns had asked us, I started to re-read the chapter about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 when I saw that the chair in front of me moved a little and someone sat down.

—Hello. —I turned and saw that it was Hermione, putting her books on the table, I just ignored her and kept reading.— Are you doing Professor Binns's essay too?

—It's quite obvious, isn't it? —I said while pointing my finger at the title that I had put on the parchment, in which it clearly said _"Gargoyle Strike of 1911"_

I considered sitting at another table, but they were all occupied now and I knew that in my room I would not do anything and end up sleeping, so I had no choice but to stay there.

I continued reading and Hermione began to do the same, I thought she would understand that I did not want to talk to her and she would remain silent, but I was obviously wrong.

—I was thinking, Leen, maybe we could do the potions essay together.

—Why? Worried that my father will try to do something to you too? —Her face turned completely pale and an ink stain fell on her parchment.— Yes, I overheard your conversation with Hagrid the other day.

—Eileen... I...

— _You_ are a bad friend, Hermione. —I started to close my books and put them in my backpack— How can you think that I or my father will hurt you? And I thought you were my friend...

—But I am!

—No, you're friends with Harry and Ron since you decided to side with them even though they didn't tolerate you for being an insufferable know-it-all.

I took my things and went up to the room, put the backpack under my bed and lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. After about ten minutes I went back downstairs to the common room, I figured Fred and George's class should be over by now so they should be there by now.

They weren't there, but Hermione was still there and I certainly didn't want to be near her so even though the corridors are freezing I decided to go out and wait there for the boys, although luckily I didn't have to wait as they were about to enter the common room.

—Hello, mini Snape.

—Hi Fred, how was your class with my father? Did he try to poison you?

—No, —George said— but he really seemed to want to. Just let us leave our things in our room so that we can go out to the gardens.

—Right, well, um... I think I'll wait for you here.

—Any problem, Leen?

—No, no, just... Uhm... Don't dally. —They both walked into the common room, though a few seconds later Fred came out again.— Wow, that was too fast.

—I asked George to put my things in the room, I want to know what's going on.

—I don't know what you're talking about.

—Come on, I noticed you don't hang out with Ron and his friends anymore, you are always alone during meal times. Did you two have a fight or something?

—It's nothing important, Fred.

It seemed like he wanted to say something else but George stepped out of the painting and the three of us headed out into the gardens, which were completely covered in snow. First, we started making a snowman and I tried to make it talk, but the spell I did just blow it off and we were completely covered in snow.

We started to do a snow fight, first, it was between us, but then we decided to make several snowballs, hide and wait for someone to pass near us to throw the balls at them.

So far we had only thrown the snowballs at Percy and a few Slytherin boys, although luckily none of them had seen us, so we didn't think twice by casting the snowballs again and having them hit Quirrell in the back of his head.

—Very amusing, isn't it? Attacking a teacher.

I felt like all my blood run cold when I heard my father's voice, the three of us turned and he was standing a few steps away from us, with his arms crossed.

—Hi, daddy, what are you doing around here? Collecting ingredients for a potion? Do you need help?

—Do not try to change the subject, Eileen. All three of you will have detention tomorrow, in my office. And 10 points from Gryffindor. Go to your common room if you don't want me to take another 10 points.

* * *

—I do feel sorry, all those people who will have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, because their families don't want them in their houses.

I rolled my eyes after hearing Draco say that, since the day of the Quidditch match, he had become more annoying during class, I no longer cared that he said things about Harry, but he did it so often that it was starting to annoy me. When class ended, I started walking in the direction of the common room, but Draco caught up with me and we better start walking to the Great Hall.

—Hey, Leen, I came because... Well, I want to know if what I said in class bothered you. I know you will have to stay at the castle for Christmas.

—Wow, the great Draco Malfoy worried about my feelings? I will write this down in my diary, I must remember it for my whole life. —We both laughed as he lightly punched me on the shoulder.— Of course I'm not upset, I will stay in the castle, yes, but I will stay with my father, I will be with my family at Christmas, not like others.

—I must admit I said it without thinking, but I'm glad it didn't bother you... Do you really have a diary?

—No, of course not. Who uses diaries, anyway?

We continued walking and we found a large tree that took up much of the hallway, Hagrid, Harry and Ron were close to it.

—Hello, Hagrid, do you need help?

—No thanks, Ron, everything's fine.

—Trying to earn extra money, Weasley? You want to be a gamekeeper when you get out of Hogwarts, right? Hagrid's hut must be like a palace to you compared to your home.

Ron lunged at Draco, grabbing him by the collar of his robe, I was about to interfere when I saw my father at the top of the stairs.

—WEASLEY!

He let go of Draco's robes and stepped away a bit, staying to one side of Hagrid.

—They provoked him, Professor Snape. —Hagrid said.— Malfoy insulted his family.

—That's no true, dad, he attacked Draco for no reason.

I felt a bit bad for making Hagrid look like a liar, but I wanted to get even for what Ron had said about my family, so I said that without thinking.

—It doesn't matter who did what, Hagrid, fighting is against Hogwarts rules -My father said.- 10 points from Gryffindor and detention with Filch, Weasley. Now, everyone, leave.

Draco and I continued walking to the Hall, while Harry and Ron stayed with Hagrid.

—I can't believe you lied to your Uncle Severus, much less to get your friends in trouble.

—They're not my friends, Draco.

—I'm glad you finally realized that you were hanging out with inferior people. I had already guessed that because now you are always with that Longbottom. I mean he is also inferior, but I thought you were with him because you liked him.

—Ew! Neville? No, I can't believe you thought that.

Draco chuckled, he put his hand on my head and messed with my hair. He went to the Slytherin table and I went to the Gryffindor table, passed by Harry, Ron and Hermione and overheard a bit of their conversation with Hagrid.

—We want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all.

—I'm not goin' to tell yeh anything and I don't want yeh to be lookin' for him.

Nicolás Flamel? I vaguely remembered hearing the name before, but who do they want to know who it is? Does it have something to do with what is hidden in the corridor on the third floor? I didn't know, but I definitely knew what to do after eating.


	13. Year One - Chapter Thirteen

Spending the Christmas holidays at the castle didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought, I had the room to myself, the common room was almost always alone (since the only Gryffindors that had stayed were me, Harry and the Weasleys). It was also relaxing to walk around the castle and have it completely silent.

The first days I spent in the library looking for information about this Nicholas Flamel, but I had no luck, so I decided to send a letter to Aunt Cissy and ask her if she knew anything, I just hope she doesn't mention it to my father because I'm sure this has to do with what's in the hallway on the third floor.

_Dear Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissy,_

_I hope you are having a good time, even though you have things to do, I guess it must be boring adult things. I would have loved to spend Christmas with you again, but being at Hogwarts is not so bad, in fact, it is fun to have the castle almost to myself, all my roommates went home as did much of my house. I just hope Draco isn't bored._

_Have you heard of someone named Nicholas Flamel? I heard a conversation from my classmates about him, I know that I have read the name somewhere and now I am curious, but I have not found any books about him and I was hoping that you could recommend some books and see if it is in the library._

_I hope to see you all over the Easter holidays._

_Eileen Snape._

* * *

Things kept getting better, the day before Christmas my father asked me to get ready and took me to Hogsmeade to buy Draco's present. I had to fake excitement of being for the 'first time' in the village, although the excitement was not so fake since when I had come with the twins, it was not covered in snow and now it looked really beautiful.

When I spent Christmas at the Malfoy Manor, I had never had to think about what to give Draco, my father always came with our gifts, so now I had no idea what to buy. What can you give to someone who has everything and can easily buy it if they don't have it?

Our first stop was Honeydukes, I wanted to get out of here as fast as I could in case someone recognize me, despite having the hat covering much of my face, so I quickly grabbed 3 packs of liquorice wands, 3 packs of chocolate cauldrons, and 3 packs of sugar feathers.

—Do you plan to have Draco eat in one day all the sugar that he should eat in a year?

—It's not all for Draco, dad, I also decided to give Fred and George something.

I turned to see him and noticed that he was rolling his eyes, I smiled and took an acid pop in my hand and glacial snowflakes in the other, deciding which one to buy for myself.

—Why do you want to give that... pair, a gift?

—Because they are my friends, of course.

—What about Miss Granger? Isn't she your friend too?

I put the pop and the snowflakes back on the shelf, I suddenly didn't feel like eating any sweets anymore, so I walked up to the counter to pay only for the sweets I had planned to give away. Instead of feeling sad at the mention of her, I felt upset with my father. True, I had never told him what had happened exactly, but he must have noticed that we were no longer talking, that I no longer sat with her in his class or in the Great Hall. And surely he remembers the day I was crying in his classroom? Right? Or does he never really pay attention to my life?

I left Honeydukes with my father behind me; I was thinking of going back to the castle, but in the distance, I saw the Gladrags Wizardwear store and knew that they sold strange and unusual socks there.

When we were little, Draco and I used to wear socks of all colours and see who could find the most horrible ones in the stores we went to, but then he said that we were already 'too old for that nonsense' so we stopped doing it.

—Let's go there. —I told my father, without looking at him, my voice sounded a little bit bitter and without waiting for an answer, I just started walking towards the store.

The store wasn't too big, but there were shelves of clothes on the walls that reached up to the ceiling and there were more clothes in the corridors. It wasn't difficult to find the socks section, as it stood out without looking for it; all the clothes here were neutral colours but in one corner were several coloured socks, there were even ones a yellow so bright that I felt like they would blind me if I kept looking at them.

I was looking for a couple of minutes until I found the perfect pair: red socks with drawings of lions in yellow, I knew Draco would hate them so I took them, I also grabbed one pair some for myself, they were dark green with silver-coloured snakes; when I showed them to my father he even smiled a little at how clumsy they were.

—Are you planning to buy something else, Eileen?

—No, I think that's all.

—Well, I need to buy some things and then we will return to the castle.

We left the store and went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop; while my father was looking at the quills, I was looking at the rainbow ink; I knew Hermione liked to decorate her notes but... Should I get her something? No.

Or should I?

No, definitely not.

I grabbed the rainbow-coloured ink and put it next with the quills that my father was going to buy, I would decide later whether to give it to Hermione (although I doubted it a lot), to Fay Dunbar, with whom I had a more or less decent friendship, or whether to simply keep it to myself.

My father arched an eyebrow when he saw me put the rainbow ink on the counter.

—I hope I do not see your next Potions essay written with... This.

—No, but it would be fun to combine it with your inks and have you review works in a bright pink colour.

—You will be grounded until you turn 40 if you do that.

I chuckled at that, took his hand as we left the store, and didn't let go of it the whole way back to the castle; I had quickly forgotten that I was mad at him, and didn't even remember what he had told me in Honeydukes.

When we got back to the castle, I decided to go with him to his office, I didn't feel like being in the common room, so I sat in the chair in front of his desk, grabbed some parchment and started writing.

_Dear Fred._

No, no, why 'dear'? Ugh, if I leave it like that, then he will think something strange. With my pinkie, I took some ink and covered the word 'dear'.

_D̶e̶a̶r̶_ _Fred_

Now what? What am I supposed to write? Will it be strange to send their gifts in separate packages?

_D̶e̶a̶r̶_ _Fred and George._

_I have never given Christmas presents before, so I wasn't sure what to get to you,_

No, no, it sounds weird. Ugh! I don't even know why I'm writing a letter when I could just give it to them tomorrow.

_D̶e̶a̶r̶_ _Fred and George._

_I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶m̶a̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶s̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ I wasn't sure what to give you, my father took me to Hogsmeade, and I remembered that you had mentioned that your candy rations were running out._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Eileen Snape._

I'm an idiot, why didn't I just grab another piece of parchment instead of putting ink all over it? If my father finds out that I wasted so much ink, he will kill me, and I can't wait for the ink to dry so I can put the scroll away. First, I made sure that he was still in his study making some potion for the infirmary and then I did a hot air charm so I could dry the ink fast.

I quickly folded it and put it inside the envelope, I took another piece of parchment and began to write.

_Draco,_

_I hope you are having fun on your vacation, I haven't done much, but it's been good so far. I know you will love your Christmas gift; I chose it myself._

_PS: I also bought a similar pair for myself, guess what colours._

_Eileen Snape._


	14. Year One - Chapter Fourteen

When I woke up on Christmas morning, the first thing I saw was several packages in front of my bed, I tossed my covers to the side and crawled to the foot of the bed, sat on the edge and grabbed the closest gift I had.

It was a rectangular box wrapped in green paper, I tore the paper and on the box was a letter, I took it and began to read it, recognizing Aunt Cissy's handwriting.

_Dear Eileen,_

_We hope you have a nice Christmas, we also wish you were with us, but as you said, we have 'boring' matters to attend to so we are glad that you are having a good time these days._

_I trust you will like your Christmas gift, we know that you are very interested in the Dark Arts, Lucius and I would love to teach you all about them, but we respect your father's decision not to show you anything too advanced until you are older. Lucius wanted to give you a more advanced book and I agree with him, we know that you are responsible and would not do anything foolish with the information you can find, but we also know that it can lead to misunderstandings if someone were to find your books and people tend to assume things when they know who your family is._

_Regarding your question in your previous letter, yes, we know who Nicolás Flamel is, I do not know much about him, only that he is a French alchemist, I know that it is not much information but I hope that it helps you._

_We love you dearly,_

_Narcissa Malfoy._

I opened the box and was surprised to see the book _Jinxes for the Jinxed,_ I know that jinxes are not really considered a Dark Art, or at least not such powerful ones, but it was still amazing to finally have something close to it, plus we won't learn a lot of this in Defence or Charms.

I put the book aside and grabbed the next gift, it was a box lined with red paper, but it didn't have a note and I didn't find one inside the box either, the only thing in the box was a grey sweater that appeared to have been handmade with a large green _E_ across the front. For a moment I thought it was from Aunt Cissy, but it wouldn't make sense for her to send it in a package other than the book and it didn't say anything about a separate gift in the letter either.

I didn't give it much thought to trying to know who had sent it and I put it over my pyjamas, I was excited to open the gifts that I hadn't realized that the room was a little bit colder.

I grabbed the third package, it was light, inside were several Honeydukes sweets and others that I had not seen in my life, I looked at the note and immediately recognized Hermione's perfect handwriting.

_Dear Eileen,_

_I'm sorry I said that about your father and I'm sorry I didn't say anything when Harry and Ron said those things about you too. I know I should have talked to you first, but I was carried away by what I had seen in the game, Harry's broom looked like it was going to let him fall at any moment and your father kept looking at it and muttering, I've read enough to know that this is what hexes are like._

_I'm not asking you to forgive me and I really don't think you will, but I hope you understand why I thought your father wants to hurt Harry. Maybe we could talk to him and find out his version of that day? We could fix this misunderstanding._

_Merry Christmas._

_Hermione J. Granger._

_PS: The sweets are Muggles, I remembered that you mentioned one day that you wanted to try them, I don't know if they are good, my parents do not let me eat sweets._

Yeah, sure, as if my father were going to explain something to us. I threw away the card and took a chocolate bar of the Muggle sweets that were in the package, apparently, the chocolate was called _Crunch_ and it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.

I kept eating the chocolate bar while I opened my last gift, it was from my father, a book called _Protection Charm Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Counter Legilimensy_ along with a simple note.

_Eileen._

_It never hurts to know how to protect what is only ours. I hope that you will read the book._

_Come see me in my office after the Christmas feast._

Protect what is ours? What's gotten into him? I put the books in my trunk and went down to the common room, as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs I wanted to go back to my room, Harry and all the Weasleys were there, although I had no luck because George had already seen me.

—Look, Perce! Even Eileen is wearing hers!

—I don't want to use it —Percy said, as the twins pulled a sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

—Do you know who sent the sweater? —I walked up to Fred and asked him.— There was no note in the gift.

—Mum makes them every Christmas, mini Snape. I think I mentioned you in some letters and that's probably why she made you one too.

—Oh. —I couldn't help the blush. He has talked about me with his parents in his letters? I wonder what's he told them?— Wow... How nice of her, I love it.

Fred smiled, grabbed me by the shoulder and we walked toward the entrance while George dragged Percy away.

—And you won't be sitting with the prefects today. Christmas is to be spent with the family!

We all went to the Great Hall and I was surprised to see only one of the tables, rather than each of the houses, but I suppose that made sense since there were very few of us who had stayed at Hogwarts; all of the Slytherins had gone home and the only other students who had stayed were Marietta Edgecomb and Roger Davies from Ravenclaw and Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff.

I've never had so much fun at a Christmas dinner, I was sitting between Fred and George, Percy was next to Fred and with my bad luck, Harry and Ron were sitting in front of us, but it still didn't ruin my dinner, I ate more roast than I've ever eaten in my life and felt like I wouldn't need to eat anymore at least until classes started again.

I opened one of the many eggs that were scattered all over the table and as I did so, a large yellow smoke bomb exploded in my face, leaving me covered in yellow dust.

—Look! —Davies said, laughing.— Now Snape's a Hufflepuff! —We all laughed and even more when he opened an egg and the same thing happened, but he was now covered in red powder.

At the teachers' table, Hagrid was looking redder and redder when finally he kissed McGonagall on the cheek; Fred, George, and I clapped loudly, making her blush even more. To my surprise, even my father was enjoying dinner, as he didn't seem to hate being here and would even smile when our eyes met. I definitely do not regret staying at the castle.

After the meal, the puddings followed and even though I still felt extremely full, I helped myself to two servings of the pudding. After half an hour, when I finally felt strong enough to be able to get up from the table, I went in the direction of the tower.

My father had been out of the dining room for several minutes and I was hoping that he would let me stay in his office for a long time after he told me what he had to say.

I went up to my room, grabbed the book that my father gave me and the one Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius gave me and put them in my bag, I didn't feel strong enough to carry them to the dungeons, besides, I had the feeling that if someone saw me with this books, they would ask questions for some reason. I was about to leave the room when I remembered the chocolate bars Hermione had given me, I decided to take one and put it in my backpack too.

When I came out through the portrait of the fat lady I ran into the boys, Harry, Ron, Percy and George went straight to the common room, the others basically ignored me, but George put his hand on my head and messed up my hair a bit. Fred stayed outside with me.

—Hey mini Snape, where are you going?

—My dad's office, he said he wanted to talk to me. —I said as I fixed my hair and started walking again, Fred followed me.

—Are you going to study during Christmas? What are you taking your backpack for?

—He won't make me study... Merlin, I really hope he won't. Do you think he asked the other teachers how I'm doing in class? I have done terribly in History of Magic... He did not tell me what he wanted to talk about, only that he wanted to see me after the feast.

—I really don't think there's a single person who gets good grades in old Binns's class.

—Probably Hermione.

—Speaking of... What happened between you guys? I've seen you being on your own for a long time and every time we mention you, Ronnikins gets kinda mad.

—It's nothing you have to worry about, Fred.

—Of course, I'm going to worry! It must have been something big so that you have stopped talking to them for months.

We kept walking in silence for a long time, a part of me wanted to tell him the truth, but the other part was afraid to know what he would think, if he too would believe that my father tried to hurt Harry.

We were near the entrance to the dungeons when I felt Fred take my right hand.

—Whatever happened, you can count on me.

I stopped walking, making Fred stop too. I've been staring at the snow-covered grounds, through the huge oak doors in the Entrance Hall, trying to organize my thoughts.

—Do you remember the first Quidditch match? —He nodded.— And I guess you also remember what happened to Harry's broom? Well, they think my father was cursing Harry's broom and trying to hurt him... Dumb, right? You don't think he's trying to hurt Harry... do you?

Fred was just watching me, his mouth slightly open, I could feel my eyes filling with tears, but I wasn't going to let them fall.

—You think so too.

I let go of his hand and started walking quickly down the stairs, after a few seconds I heard his footsteps behind me.

—Eileen, wait!

—Leave me alone, Fred.

I opened the door to my father's office, but Fred took my arm and wouldn't let me in, so I turned to see him.

—Listen, I'm sorry, I don't think that happened, I was just a little surprised by what you told me. I know I've said some things, well... Bad, about him, but I never really thought they were true. And it seems stupid to think that when someone takes the time to get to know you, if he were really bad, well... You would be bad too, right?

I could feel a tear finally fall down my cheek, at the same time that I felt a hand on my shoulder and didn't need to look up to know it was my father.

—Well, Eileen, um... We'll be in... Ah... In the gardens, in case you want to join us later.

—Maybe... Maybe on another day.

—Well...

He looked me in the eyes, smiled a little and left.

But he avoided looking at my father.


	15. Year One - Chapter Fifteen

—Would you like to explain to me what that was about?

—No. Would you like to tell me why you wanted me to come?

My father sighed and put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, sat in the chair behind his desk and I sat in the one opposite him. The dungeons were even colder than the rest of the castle and the sweater Mrs Weasley made me didn't warm me enough so I hugged my legs, hoping it would warm me up a bit more, but I was still shivering a little.

My father got up and went to his room, I just stared at the door waiting for him to return and when he did I tried to hide my smile behind my knees; after he put the blanket on me, he sat down in front of his desk again.

—Do you know what Legilimency is?

—Not really, it's like reading minds, right? I think I read some of that in the library at the Manor.

—In simple terms, you could say it is something like that, but in reality, Legilimency is something much more complicated than simply _'reading minds'._ A Legilimens can extract the memories and feelings of one person and even create memories in the mind of the other person. How would you feel if I used Legilimency to find out what happened a few minutes ago outside in the corridor?

—Well, I don't know... Awful, betrayed, I guess.

—Exactly, it would be an invasion of your privacy.

—But... But, does that mean that anyone can see my thoughts?

—No, Legilimency is not a common skill, it is considered a dark art of magic and is not taught at Hogwarts for that reason.

—Are you a Legili-thingy?

—Legilimens. Yes, just like Dumbledore.

—And are you the only ones who know how to use it?

—I would like to say yes, but it would be foolish for me to think that. There is the possibility that at some point in your life you will meet people who would not care seeing your memories to get what they want and that is why I gave you that book, I want you to learn to empty your mind, that is what Occlumency is about.

—Do you really think someone would try to use Legilimency on me?

—I certainly hope not, but I would rather be sure that you can empty your mind in case that happens. Your... Your mother and I are both masters in Occlumency and I am also master in Legilimency so I do not think you will have a hard time mastering Occlumency, the skill runs through your body.

I was surprised to hear that he finally said something about my mother without me bullying him into saying something or just sending me to my room, I can't even remember the last time he mentioned her.

—Also, every time you want to read the book, I want you to do it here and leave it here, I do not want you to take it out of my office at any time, and you cannot tell anyone that you are learning Occlumency, as I said, it is not taught here for a reason.

—Wouldn't it be easier if you teach me?

—I will do it when you have an idea of how to do it. The book is good, but I feel it lacks some information. And after you read it, I will try to get into your mind for the rest of the year, so you better be prepared.

I took the book out of my backpack and stared at the cover, now I had more enthusiasm to read it, but I couldn't even open it, something was going on in my mind, I turned to see my father, he was already reviewing some essays that he had in his desk.

—Dad?

—Yes?

—Where is she?

I didn't need to mention her name for him to know whom I'm talking about, he stopped correcting the essay in front of him and put the quill aside, but he was still looking at the scroll.

—Why do you insist on talking about her?

—Oh, I don't know, maybe because she's my mother and I don't even know her name? I'm not asking you to take me with her or something just... Well, I don't know, I just want to know something.

—I will tell you when you are older.

—And when will that be? You said the same thing to me when I was 9, then again when I was 10, Aunt Cissy said the same thing to me in the summer when I was 11, I'm 12 now and you keep saying the same thing. When will I be old enough? Why doesn't anyone want to tell me anything?

—Eileen, she is away for a reason and I would rather you did not know.

—But-!

—Enough, Eileen! I will not tell you anything else.

I wiped a tear from my cheek with the sleeve of my sweater, I took the books and locked myself in his room. I lay back on the bed, I wanted to cry so badly but didn't want to, so I took the book my Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius gave me and started reading it.

* * *

I didn't even know what time it was, but it was definitely late. At some point during the day I had fallen asleep reading, I left the Occlumency book on the bedside table that was next to the bed and the other book I put it in my bag; I had a blanket on top of me that I didn't remember grabbing, I pushed it aside and got out of bed.

I left the room and I didn't see my father in his office or his study so I opened the door that led to a mini kitchen and saw him sitting in front of a small table, drinking coffee and reading The Daily Prophet.

—Hey. —I said as I sat in a chair in front of him

—Ah, it seems that someone finally decided to wake up.

—Did I really sleep for that long? —I stifled a yawn while rubbing my eyes with the sleeves of my sweater.

—You missed dinner.

—Oh, it's okay, I think I'd explode if I eat something again. I'm still full after the feast.

My father smirked and continued reading the newspaper, I stared at the table, I really wanted to tell him everything that was going on, everything Harry, Ron and Hermione were thinking about him, and I also wanted to know what he was doing on the third floor and why he was there, why he got bitten by the dog, but for that, I would have to explain many things that I didn't even know or understand, I would have to tell him the day those four (and I would have to put poor Neville in trouble) were out of the common room after curfew and that not only were they in that corridor but they also opened the door and found that huge dog, probably knowing they shouldn't be there.

Also, knowing him, he would wonder what Fred has to do with all this and the truth is that I don't know either, I just know that I feel different when I'm with him than when I'm with George or Neville. I know his smile is contagious and it makes me smile too, I know that in some way he is completely different from George and so I can tell them apart when they are not together.

—Is the table that interesting, Eileen?

—Ah? Oh no, I was just uhm... thinking, you know, homework and stuff.

—Oh, sure. I recommend that you think about... ' _homework and stuff_ ' in your common room, it is late. Or would you prefer to spend the night here?

—No, it's okay, but I think I'll be here all day tomorrow, see you, dad.

—Goodnight, Eileen. Do not go somewhere else other than your common room.

I took my now almost empty backpack and left my father's office, it was already dark and it was too cold, so I started walking as fast as I could. Halfway, surprisingly, I got a little hungry, so I took out the chocolate bar I had saved and started eating it.

I was already on the other side of the corridor, seeing the portrait of the Fat Lady at the end of the corridor when I saw it open, I thought about hiding somewhere, hoping it wasn't Fred who came out of the tower, but no one came out of there, I only heard the shriek of the Fat Lady asking who was there, but I had the feeling that someone was watching me.

—Girl! —Shouted the Fat Lady.— Did you see anyone getting out of here?

—No, I only saw that the portrait was opened, but there was no one behind it.

—That's what I thought... Password?

I looked behind me, I still felt that there was someone there and that they were watching me, but the corridor was still alone.

—Password?

—Dragon blood.

The portrait opened and I went through the hole, luckily there was no one in the common room and since I was not sleepy, I decided to sit in the armchair in front of the fireplace. The fireplace was completely off, but as soon as I sat down on the couch, flames appeared, heating the common room. I love magic.

I opened the spellbook to a random page and started reading about the Vermiculus Jinx.

_This jinx allows you to transform certain creatures into simple orange worms that are weaker to spells and hexes. Some creatures, such as Vampyr Mosps, must be hit with this spell multiple times to achieve transformation._

_To cast this spell you must point the wand directly at the target and clearly say Vermiculus._

I took a pencil that was on one of the study tables and put it on the floor, took out my wand and pointed it at the pencil.

—Vermiculus!

Nothing happened, the pencil was still a pencil. I kept trying several times but nothing happened, I was about to try again when I saw that the portrait opened again, but then again, no one was behind it, probably the Fat Lady dreams of passwords and that is why she opened the door even if nobody said it.

—Vermiculus!

Again the pencil was still a pencil and again, I had the feeling that someone was watching me.

—It probably only works on animals... Maybe I'll grab Scabbers for a few minutes and try it on him.

I could swear I heard someone gasp behind me, but when I turned around there was no one. I grabbed the book, with the pencil I made a small note above the title of the spell, _it only works with animals_ , I put the book in my bag, put the pencil back in its place and went up the stairs to the girls' bedroom, I wasn't so sleepy, but that was probably the reason why I was hearing things.


	16. Year One - Chapter Sixteen

The next day at breakfast I noticed that Harry was acting weird, eating nothing and rarely responding to Ron, but since I was sitting far away from them, there was no way of knowing what they were saying

I also noticed that when Fred and George entered the dining room, George greeted me with his hand and looked like he was thinking of sitting down with me, but Fred looked at the staff table, then at me, whispered something in George's ear and they ended up sitting next to Ron.

I couldn't help but think that all the problems I was having were related to my father: Harry, Ron and Hermione think that my father is trying to kill Harry; Fred definitely thinks that my father can hurt a student; I even felt the looks of the students from other years and listened to everything they said about me. I still remember a conversation of some sixth-year girls that I overheard at the beginning of the year, in the library.

_—So do you really think she's Snape's daughter?_

_—That's what she says, but honestly, who would sleep with him? He's as horrible as a troll. Do you think he used Amortentia? He must know how to prepare it better than anyone. —They both laughed.— And if it's true, she's lucky she didn't get his nose from him. Now that I think about it, she doesn't even look like him, they just have the same black greasy hair._

_—Life doesn't punish twice, Talia, although I heard Ava say they have the same temper._

_—Really? I thought she would be completely opposite, she looks kinda cute, honestly but I feel bad for her, I can't bear to spend an hour in class with him. Can you imagine every day, all day?_

_—Excuse me. —I said, stepping out of the corridor where I was and standing in front of them.— Could you please, shut up? Many of us come to the library to study and not to waste our time._

_Both girls turned completely pale, grabbed their things and ran out of the library._

I dropped the fork on the table with greater force than I thought, luckily no one noticed, although there were not so many people. I left the dining room and began to walk without paying attention to where I was going. I was looking at the ground when I bumped into something and fell to the ground, I looked up to see what I had bumped into and as I did so I felt like all my blood run cold.

—P-Professor Quirrell! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention.

—D-don't worry, miss S-S-Snape.

He gave me his hand to help me up, when I touched it I felt my body freeze even more, maybe he was outside the castle and that's why he was so cold.

—Thank you, professor, and again, I'm so sorry.

I smiled at him and started walking; when I passed him I felt his icy hand on my shoulder.

—Miss Snape, w-where is your f-f-father?

—Oh, I don't know, the last time I saw him he was in the Great Hall, but he left before me, he's probably in his office. Do you want me to take you to him?

—No, no... T-thank you, Miss Snape. And b-b-be more careful where you walk, you won't want me to meet you on the third floor again, right?

I couldn't believe my luck, of all the places in Hogwarts, I had to end up on the third floor. I left as fast as I could before Quirrell changed his mind and gave me a detention. I walked down the stairs and decided to go to the library and look for an alchemy book, I still wanted to know who Nicolás Flamel was and what was on the third floor.

I was about to enter when I saw my father outside the library entrance, it seemed like he was looking for something or someone.

—I know you want to spend every moment of your life with me, so here I am.

—Eileen, I was looking for you. Where were you last night?

—Uhm with you?

—After that, obviously.

—I went straight to my common room and never left until this morning, why?

—Are you sure about that?

—Oh, I don't know, maybe some of the ghosts took my body and we went for a walk in the forbidden forest. Of course I'm sure. Why do you ask?

—Last night someone was in the restricted section in the library, I had to make sure it was not you.

—Well, even if I lied to you, we both know you can find out, right?

My father arched an eyebrow and I just smiled, I knew he would understand what I was talking about.

—By the way, I think Professor Quirrell is looking for you, he asked about you.

—Quirrell? Where did you see him?

—Uhm... On the third floor.

We will talk later in my office.

He rushed off in the direction of the third floor. By Merlin's beard! Now I'll be in trouble for being on the third floor, how can I be so dumb? Why else would he have gotten mad like this?

I entered the library and went straight to the reference section, looking for some book that mentioned alchemy when I heard Harry and Ron's voices on the other side.

—I'm telling you, Ron, I heard her last night saying that she would try to do something with Scabbers, she was practising some spell but I couldn't hear what it was.

—Probably some kind of a dark spell that her beloved Uncle Malfoy taught her. —They were silent for a few seconds, for a moment I thought they had seen me. How did Harry find out about that? There was no one in the common room or on the stairs.— So you will be back tonight, Harry?

—I already told you, yes.

Back to where? Are they going to the third-floor corridor? They didn't say anything more and after a few minutes I saw them leave the library, it seems that they didn't realize I was there. I kept looking and finally found a book called _Alchemy: Ancient Art and Science_ , I took it and sat at one of the tables farthest from the entrance door.

I opened the book in the index and started looking for the name of Nicolas Flamel until I finally found him almost at the end of the index, I quickly looked for the page.

Nicolas Flamel is a famous French magician and alchemist. He is widely known for being the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with incredible powers, capable of transforming any metal into pure gold and producing the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. Flamel is a close friend and associate of the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Mr Flamel, who turned six hundred and sixty-five last year, has a quiet life with his wife Perenela, who is six hundred and fifty-eight years old.

The Philosopher's Stone?

* * *

I was standing in front of my father's office door, I had my hand on the door handle, but I didn't want to open it. What will he tell me for having been in the corridor on the third floor again? He went completely insane when he thought that I had been there and seen what was inside.

I sighed and opened the door, it was completely dark and I could hardly see.

—Dad?

I heard the sound of some glass jars and then I saw him leave his lab, I don't understand how he doesn't trip over something with all the darkness here, the door was still open and still couldn't see much.

With his wand he lit some candles around and finally I closed the door, he returned to his lab and I followed him inside.

I had never entered this room and it was surprising, the walls were full of shelves filled with different ingredients and in the middle was a table with the other things necessary to make potions. I looked at the ingredients on the table and what was inside the cauldron.

—Pepper-Up potion? Do you have a cold?

—No, but the other students will be back in a couple of days, and if ten years of being a teacher have taught me anything, it is that someone always comes back with a cold.

I smiled and kept watching him as he brewed the potion.

—Am I in trouble?

—If you did something that you should not have, it is better if you tell me now rather than if I find out in any other way.

All right, Eileen, think, he's telling you that because he doesn't remember what happened? Or because he wants to know if I will tell him the truth?

—When we met in the library you said you wanted to talk to me here.

Well done, Eileen, you are not lying but you're also not throwing yourself in the fire. 10 points for Gryffindor!

—Ah yes, that. —Damn, I'm in trouble.— You are not in trouble, I just do not want you to be alone with Professor Quirrell, much less if you are on the third floor, where you should not be there, to begin with.

—What? Why?

—Just listen to me for once in your life and do what I tell you.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in my father's room, on his bed under the covers, reading about Occlumency. I was too lazy to climb the seven floors to the tower and was considering staying the night in his office, but I remembered Harry and Ron's conversation in the library, so shortly before dark, I went back to the tower to wait for them and try to know where they would go.

Only Percy was in the common room, but he was doing some homework and luckily he didn't pay much attention to me, I sat in one of the chairs where you can see the entrance, and because the back of the chair is facing the stairs, they won't be able to see me and they won't know I'm here.

I waited hours and hours, Percy had already gone to sleep _'It's almost midnight, Eileen, you should go to sleep too'_ , but that was an hour ago, I started to believe that they both knew I was there and they said it to keep me here like an idiot. I was about to go to my room when again the portrait opened, although no one was behind it. What is going on?

* * *

I didn't know when I had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for them, but when I woke up, the sun's rays were already coming through the window. I got up and went to my room to take a shower, when I went downstairs again, Fred and George were sitting in front of the fireplace.

—Hey, Leen!

—Hullo, George.

—Where are you going?

—I don't know, my father's office, maybe. See you. —I was about to leave the common room when I remembered something and went back to where they were both.— Hey, George, can I ask you a favour?

—Sure, what do you need?

—I need to borrow the map we used the other day when we went to Hogsmeade.

Ah, planning something and you don't invite us? Oh, I'm so hurt.

He put his hand on his chest, pretending to be offended and I laughed a little.

—I promise it's nothing worthwhile.

George went upstairs to the boys' rooms and I was alone with Fred. To be honest, I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I thought I would.

—Hey... I'm sorry about the other day.

—For what reason? For thinking that my father wants to kill Harry or ignoring me in the Great Hall?

Ah, now it feels uncomfortable to be with him.

—All. For what I told you the day we met on the train. I know what it feels like to have people talk bad about you and your family.

—Who would speak ill of your family? I haven't even met your mother and I think she's amazing. She even gave me a sweater without knowing me!

Fred smiled a little, with both hands he took mine, playing with my fingers.

—People like the Malfoys, you know... Because we're purebloods and we're not rich, plus we don't hate Muggle-borns. George and I always joke about it, but sometimes it gets tiring, you know? I don't understand why they care so much about the difference in blood and money, we are still people, right? We are still witches and wizards and so are Muggle-borns. No one is better than anyone else.

I looked at his face, he was only looking at the ground, I felt horrible and didn't know what to say.

—And even so. —He continued.— I said some not-so-nice things about your father when we first met, I made you feel the way I hate people making me feel. Worst of all, very few people care about blood purity and money, but... Well, I know that the vast majority of the students probably wouldn't put Snape as their favourite teacher.

I didn't know what to say and even if I did, I felt like the words wouldn't come out of my mouth, so I just walked over and hugged him.

—Oh wow, I can come back later if you want.

We hadn't seen that George was already downstairs again, I took a few steps away from Fred and took the map, thanking them for lending it to me and went up to my room again, I was very hungry, but the feeling I always felt in my stomach when I was with Fred had returned so I decided to stay in the room until lunch.

* * *

—I solemnly swear that my intentions are not good.

I had the map open in front of me, little by little I could see how the corridors of Hogwarts began to be drawn on the parchment. It was strange to see so few names on the map, but it was also a good thing because I could find the names so easily. My father was in Dumbledore's office, I wonder what they are talking about. Fred and George were in the kitchen, but the only name that mattered to me was near me. Harry was in his room and if he went out again, now I would know where he would go.

I was watching the point for about 15 minutes, the twins had already returned to the tower and were now in their room when it finally seemed that Harry was leaving his. I waited until he was outside the tower to start following him, took my wand and left the tower.

— _Lumos._

I wasn't afraid of having the light since with the map I would know if someone else was nearby, I looked for Harry's name again and I found it near the library, is he looking for information about Flamel? But instead of entering the library, he went down another corridor and finally entered a room.

When I finally got to the room, I cast Nox my wand before entering and hid the scroll; upon entering, I noticed that Harry was only sitting in front of a mirror, is this what they have been doing? Do they love themselves that much?

I sidled up and wondered what Nargles Harry was seeing, I could only see his reflection and mine behind him.

—What are you doing here?

Harry turned his head as fast as an owl, I even thought he had hurt himself, but he just got up and looked at the mirror again.

—Can you see them too?

—Us? Of course, I can Harry, that's what mirrors do.

—No, not to us, come, come closer.

I stood where he was and now I understood what he meant. I was seeing my reflection, but I wasn't alone and Harry wasn't with me now, the people in the reflection were my dad and... My mum. She looks even more beautiful than in the pictures and now I can see how much I look like her, except for her light brown hair, that fell in waves around her shoulders.

—Wow...

—What did you see?

—I'm with my parents, the three of us are smiling and... We seem to be very happy. What did you see?

—I'm with my family, all the Potters.

—Do you think that's what it does? Show your family?

—I don't think so, Ron saw himself as a Quidditch captain, didn't mention seeing his family.

I kept looking at the mirror for a long time, my father had his hand on my right shoulder, while my mother had it on the left, we were all smiling.

—Back again, Harry?

Harry and I turned around, I felt my blood run cold again for the 50th time this month and it wasn't because of the cold in the room. Dumbledore was behind us, sitting on one of the benches.

—Professor Dumbledore, I didn't see you there.

—Well, Harry, it's amazing how myopic one can become while being invisible.

—What? —I turned to see Harry.— Invisible?

Harry just looked at me, but another doubt invaded my mind, that meant that he was already here before Harry arrived but why didn't I see him on the map?

—You, —Dumbledore began to speak.— like many others before you, discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised. You have realized what it does, right? He showed you your family, to your friend Ron, it showed him as Quidditch captain. Do you have any idea what the mirror is showing us?

Harry and I were silent for a few seconds, both trying to understand what he had just said.

—It shows us what we desire.

—That's right, Eileen. I see you got the quick-thinking out of your mother, she also joined the dots faster than anyone else. You see, this mirror shows us the deepest desire of our hearts. You, Harry, who never knew your family; you, Eileen, who never knew your mother. Ronald Weasley, who has always been surpassed by his brothers, is seen as the best of them.

—It's fascinating what the mirror can show us, —Dumbledore continued.— But it's just that, a wish. Many people have been consumed by the beauty of what they see, even going crazy for not knowing if what they are seeing is real or not. The mirror will be brought to a new home tomorrow and I ask you not to look for it again. And if you ever come across it, you must be prepared. It is not good to be carried away by dreams and forget to live. Now, why don't you put on that magnificent cape again and go to bed?

—Professor Dumbledore.

—Yes, Eileen?

—So, you knew my mum?

—Oh, of course, I did and I know what you will ask me, but the answer is no. Your father has made it very clear to us that he does not want you to know who she is, at least not until you are older. I understand that this can be very frustrating for you, but later you will understand that it is the best option.

—What do you see, professor?

—I see myself holding a new pair of wool socks, Harry. Another Christmas that passes and another Christmas that people insist on giving me books.

I laughed louder than I wanted to, so I had to cover my mouth with my hands, I can't believe I just laughed at the greatest desire of the great Albus Dumbledore.

—It's never bad to have a sense of humour, Eileen, you don't know when it will be needed in the darkest of moments.

Harry walked to the door of the room and grabbed something off the floor.

—Wow! An invisibility cloak! Where did you get it from, Harry?

—I got it at Christmas, but I don't know who sent it.

He put it on top, covering half of his body, I realized that he had left the other half uncovered because he was waiting for me to come to his side so he could cover us both. We left the room and began to carefully walk up to the tower.

—You really don't know who your mum is?

—No, my father always gets upset every time I mention her. Aunt Cissy always says that they'll tell me when I'm older, but they've been telling me that for years.

The rest of the way was in complete silence, I did not know if I had to say something or what to say, so I better decided not to say anything. The Fat Lady wasn't scared again when I said the password, it seems like she was getting used to some ghost saying it or something.

—Well, uhm... See you, Harry.

—See you.


	17. Year One - Chapter Seventeen

Hermione came back a couple of days before classes started again and since so far she was the only one who had returned, it was a bit uncomfortable when she returned.

I was putting some things in my trunk when I heard the door open, I turned to see who it was and when I saw Hermione enter the room, I went back to what I was doing.

—Hi, Eileen.

—Hey.

—Did you have a good time?

—Uh-huh.

—Did you receive my gift?

—Yeah.

She started taking things out of her trunk, so I decided not to spend any more time in the room and go to my father's office, I had already read the entire book on Occlumency and wanted to put it into practice. I went down to the common room, which was a little more crowded now because students have been returning these days, mainly those who live in Hogsmeade. As I exited the portrait, I ran into Neville, carrying an empty cage.

—Hello, Eileen!

—Hi, Neville, did you have a good Christmas?

—Yes, my uncle Algie gave me a book named _'Magical and Healing Plants of North America'_ did you know that there is an extremely rare plant that allows you to fly for 5 minutes? It's called _Plant Caeli._ The highest you can go is half a meter, but it's still amazing, don't you think?

—Very interesting, Neville, but why do you have a cage?

—Oh, my granny was upset that I was always losing Trevor, so she bought me a cage, although I'll let him out as soon as I get to my room.

—Uh... Neville? The cage is empty.

He raised the cage to eye level and after seeing the cage completely empty, his calm face became one filled with concern. Poor Neville.

—Oh no! I can't believe I lost him again, my granny will be so mad if I can't find him.

—He'll show up, Neville, don't worry. Look, I will go down to the dungeons because I want to talk about something with my father so I will be paying attention in case I see him.

—Yeah... Okay, thanks, Eileen. —I was about to go downstairs when Neville called my name again.— Eileen, wait! What's the password?

—Ah, it's Leo Fortis.

I waited for him to walk through the hole to the common room, knowing Neville, something could have happened that he would have needed my help in again, but when the portrait closed without any trouble, I turned around and started walking down the stairs to go to my father's office.

When I got to his office, I opened the door and saw him sitting at his desk, writing something on a piece of parchment.

—Are you busy?

I closed the door behind me and instead of sitting in the chair in front of his desk, I began to observe the glass jars filled with various things, I had never paid so much attention to them... Is that a tongue?

—What do you need?

—I finished reading the book you gave me and I would like to put it into practice. —I kept looking at the jars.— Is this a Murtlap tentacle? I thought it was really hard to get.

—Give me a few minutes while I finish reviewing these documents.

I continued looking at the jars, opening some of them to get a better look at what they contained and then putting them back in place. I got bored very quickly and I better sat in my usual chair.

_—Eileen... I..._

_—You are a bad friend, Hermione. —I started to close the books and put the scrolls in my backpack— How can you think that I or my father would hurt you? I thought you were my best friend..._

_—But I am!_

_—No, you're friends with Harry and Ron since you decided to side with them even though they didn't tolerate you for being an insufferable know-it-all._

I pulled that memory out of my mind. Why am I remembering it right now?

_Some pictures were from the day Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius got married, others were from when Draco and I were little kids, but my favourite was the one where Aunt Cissy and my mother were hugging, waving their hands at the camera, and then laughing at something._

_—You look very much like her._

_—You think so, Aunt Cissy?_

What the-? Oh no.

—Why didn't you tell me you were going to enter my mind?

—Do you really think whoever tries to do it will warn you? You must be alert at all times. And you must learn to act quickly.

_—Well, I know that the vast majority of the students probably wouldn't put Snape as their favourite teacher._

_I didn't know what to say and even if I did, I felt like the words wouldn't come out of my mouth, so I just walked over and hugged him._

Before he could see more of that day, I quickly emptied my mind, but it was too late.

—Do you want to explain that last memory?

—No. It's private.

—It stops being private when you have your mind opened like a book.

—But... Wait, I thought you had to use your wand to be able to do it? Obviously, I won't let you see my memories if I know you're going to try!

—Wands are needed when you do not have great Legilimency skills, but it is not the only way.

—And how will I know that someone is trying to get into my mind?

—You will not know, you just have to be wary all of the time. But, for now, I want to focus on just one thing, the reason why I was able to see any of your memories that easily was because I was not looking for something specific, besides, all your memories are... Floating in your mind, so to speak. You need to organize them, this way it will take longer to see them and you will have more time to know about any intrusion.

—And how can I organize them? The book only mentioned how to repel an intruder by keeping your mind blank. It didn't say a lot of things, to be honest.

—Think of your feelings as categories, all the memories that make you happy, they will go in one category. People themselves are a single category.

I closed my eyes and began to create categories of my memories, I wasn't even sure of what I had to do but I smiled when I noticed that bookshelves started to appear in my mind, and I noticed that the books were my memories. I grabbed the book that said _'Happiness I-V'_ on the spine, it seems that there was a limit to the books because there were two others with the name happiness, but one of them was _'Happiness VI-X'_ and the other _'Happiness XI-XV_ ', I suppose they are separated by age since the third was not as big as the other two.

When I opened the book, instead of finding a text, there was a photo on the page, which when I touched it with my finger, it began to reproduce a memory, as if it was a pensive. I don't even remember this day, it seems that my mind added it automatically.

In the memory I could see myself, a lot smaller, I was probably 5 years old and I was in Malfoy Manor, sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace, you could hardly see anything through the window, it was dark and it was also snowing heavily. I was falling asleep on the couch, but after seeing the green flames appear in the fireplace, I got up and ran to hug my father.

I turned the page and there were more memories, but I didn't have time to look at them, I put it back on the shelf and I turned around to keep looking, now I was in the bookshelves that belong to the memories I have of every person. Each book had a different design and different sizes, the more memories I had with that person, the bigger the book, they were also separated in my family, friends, teachers...

In the family section there were 5 books, _'Severus Snape'_ , _'Narcissa Malfoy'_ , _'Draco Malfoy'_ and _'Lucius Malfoy'_ but the fifth only had the name of _'Evan'_ and it wasn't very big either, it seemed to be only about 10 pages long or even less. Evan? Could it be a book about me? Although it doesn't make any sense... I decided not to open it, for now, it was probably just the memories of my mental notes that I usually do and I don't want to waste my time, although I did not understand why it only had my middle name.

I opened my eyes and my father was back writing something on a piece of parchment but he turned to see me when he noticed that I moved.

—Ah. I thought for a moment that you had fallen asleep.

—No, I've been separating my memories, as you told me.

—And did you do it?

—I think so. You can see it if you want to.

He took his wand, pointed it at me and right after he said Legilimens said, I could feel him go through the bookshelves, although he did not try to open any.

_—Eileen, wait!_

_—Leave me alone, Fred._

My father lowered his wand and placed it on his desk.

—I must say that I am impressed... I thought it would take you longer to achieve it, although it is not perfect yet, some of your memories are still floating in your mind and are extremely easy to see. I was out of your mind before I could see any more of that... Fight, but still a great achievement for someone who has not really had any training in Occlumency, ignoring the fact that you are only 12 years old.

I smiled so much that even my cheeks started to hurt a bit, but I was very proud of myself, I could even tell in my father's smile that he was also proud.

—I think that for now, that is more than enough, I recommend that you go to sleep a little before dinner, it is normal for you to feel tired after this. You can stay here if you want to.

—Yes, I think-

RIBBIT!

—What was that?

RIBBIT!

I walked over to the door, where the sound was coming from and started to laugh when I saw what it was.

—Trevor! What are you doing down here? —I reached down to pick him up with both hands, one on top of it, so he wouldn't escape.

—Is that Longbottom's toad?

—Yeah, I ran into Neville outside of the common room, I told him I'd be looking for him. Can you believe that he managed to escape somehow while being in a cage?

—Longbottom would have lost his head by now if it were not attached to his body.

—That's not nice, Dad. —I opened the door quickly, to prevent the toad from jumping out of my hand, then grabbed it again with both hands.— Come on Trevor, Neville is looking for you.


	18. Year One - Chapter Eighteen

—Hey, Snape!

I was walking towards the library when I heard someone calling my name when I turned I saw Roger Davies running towards me.

—Hullo, Davies. —I changed the weight of the books that I was carrying in my arms, a few days ago I had checked out several books from the library and it was close to the deadline to deliver them.

—You want some help with that? —He said while pointing his index finger at the books.

—No, thank you.

I turned around and kept walking, the truth is that I would have appreciated the help, the books were too heavy but I had never spoken with Davies, he was not even from my year and now he wanted to help me with the books? I don't know, maybe I'm getting as paranoid as Harry, but I feel like Davies wants something.

—Wait, Snape.

Should I be happy that I was right?

—What do you need, Davies?

—You do know that we all want Slytherin to lose the House Cup, right?

—Uh-huh.

—Well, I just wanted to ask you... Well, everyone in Ravenclaw actually, to talk with your dad, you know... Give Gryffindor a head start on the next Quidditch match so they have a chance to win. We know he hates the Gryffindors but he will listen to his daughter and would want her house to win, right? Obviously, I'd rather Ravenclaw win but it's better that Gryffindor wins than—

—What are you talking about?

He seemed surprised by my question, he was looking at me without blinking and his eyebrows were raised so much that they seemed to disappear into his hair.

—You really don't know?

—Know what?

—Your father will be the referee for the next Quidditch match.

—My father? Quidditch? —He nodded and I started to laugh like I hadn't in a long time, Davies was just looking at me like I was crazy.— Are you mad? Where do you get those ideas from?

—Our captain, Louise Watkins, told us. You can ask someone on the Gryffindor team, I'm not lying.

I started walking towards the library, it was getting late and I didn't want to have to carry them all back to my room. I thought Davies would leave, but he started following me.

—I'm sorry I don't believe you, but it's simply impossible to believe that my father would get on a broom. I find him more likely to give Fred and George a single point for making a joke than him being on a broom.

He chuckled at that and took a couple of books from my hands, this time I didn't complain, my arms were thanking me for the weight to drop.

—No one knows why they decided for him to be the referee, but he definitely will be.

—But my father? Severus Snape?

—The same.

I chuckled again, I still couldn't believe it. What the Nargles is he thinking?

—I can't just ask him to make Gryffindor win, I even think he will do the opposite, but I'll talk to him.

—Great.

He smiled at me and I smiled back. We keep walking in silence until I noticed that he was reading the title of one of the books that he had taken from my arms.

— _Ancient spells and charms long forgotten?_ Isn't this, I don't know, something advanced?

—It doesn't really have anything extremely difficult and mainly they are very complicated variations of some spells we know, but there are some interesting ones like this one, look.

I put the books down next to me on the floor and took out my wand, I began to move it in circles.

— _Satus Nix._ —Little snowflakes began to come out of the tip of my wand, which ended up falling on my shoes and made my feet feel a little cold.— _Finis Nix._ The duration of the spell depends on how long you can hold it, although I don't think that one person can do it for a long time since it consumes a lot of your energy. Last night I managed to fill half a glass of snow before feeling too tired to continue.

—Wow, that was amazing, you should show me that one day. —I picked up the books from the floor and we continued walking towards the library. —Can I be honest with you about something?

I raised an eyebrow, the way my father usually does and pushed open the library door with my left arm, waited for Davis to enter, and walked over to the shelf from which I had taken the books.

—I thought you would be different.

—Different... Like?

—Well... At the beginning of the year, the topic of conversation of many people used to be about you, they still talk about you but not so much and there were many rumours...

—Let me guess, everyone is wondering how the bat of the dungeon has a daughter and everyone thinks I'm just as awful as him? They haven't been very discreet.

I finished putting the books I was carrying in their place and now I was putting away the books he still had.

—Yeah, sorry about that... But it's good to know that you're actually very nice.

—Thanks, I guess, and thanks for helping me with the books.

—It's no problem. Well, I have to go, I have to catch some flying seahorses and I still have no idea how to do it.

—Are you making the Girding Potion?

—Yes, how did you know? No, you know what, forget it.

We both laughed until Madam Pince came over and threatened to kick us out of the library.

—Did you try using the Seize and Pull Charm? It is in the third-year curriculum, right? Fred mentioned it to me a few days ago.

Davies put his face in his hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

—I can't believe I never thought of it and now I don't know if I can get them all in time. They are for the third period tomorrow and they have to be 10.

—The third period? You could try to catch them at lunchtime. I will help you so that you get them faster.

—Really?

—Sure, I'll see you tomorrow at the black lake at 1.

—Okay, thanks, Eileen. I owe you one.

Davies (or should I call him Roger now?) left the library while I went to look for the section of the last book that I still had in my hands, but as I got closer I recognized Hermione's voice.

—I really think we should ask her, find out if she knows anything.

—Sure, something like _'hello, Eileen, do you happen to know what your father is trying to steal from the corridor on the third floor?'_ Then she will tell Snape and they will try to kill us all.

—She's not like that, Ronald. If she'd already mentioned something to Snape, we would know.

—Why do you trust her so much?

—Because she's my best friend... And we have been very unfair to her.

I stopped paying attention to them and went to the same section where I had found the book _Alchemy: Ancient Art and Science._ I pulled it off the shelf and stared at the cover for a moment. Should I give them the book or let them keep searching about Flamel without success?

I went back to where they were, they kept arguing about Flamel and saying their theories about what the giant dog (did Ron say Fluffy?) might be keeping. I stood in front of them, still somewhat undecided about whether to give them the book or not.

—Hi, Eileen. —Hermione said.— Do you need something?

I just walked until I was in front of them and put the book on the table, it would be their decision whether they decide to open it and read the index or not. I did my part already. I left the library and began to hear voices approaching, I kept going up the stairs to the second floor when someone was talking to me again.

—Eileen!

I turned and saw Fred walking up the stairs, walking towards me, leaving a trail of water and mud on the ground, it had been raining all day but that didn't stop them from training; the rest of the Quidditch team stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching us.

—Hi Fred, did you have a good training?

—Yeah, something like that, hey...

—It's about the next Quidditch match, right? They want me to tell my father to let Gryffindor win.

—How did you know about that?

—Roger told me about it.

—Roger? Roger Davies? Ravenclaw's Chaser?

Fred was leaning against the wall, with one leg resting on the wall, but as soon as I said Roger's name, he straightened up and moved closer to me, I just nodded.

—Since when are you friends with him?

—A few moments ago, I suppose.

—But why? You shouldn't be his friend. I've heard him talking in class, saying things about you and your—

—Oh come on, Fred, you are not my father to start telling me to whom I can talk to or not, and I don't even listen to him. Why do you care if I talk to him or not? And don't try to use the excuse that he says things about me and my father. Or just because you apologized at Christmas does it mean that what happened a few weeks ago doesn't matter anymore?

Fred seemed puzzled, he kept looking at me and his mouth was a little open, I just crossed my arms over my chest, looked at the rest of the Quidditch team with a frown on my face and they decided to leave, maybe I should use the fact that everyone thinks I'm just like my father to my advantage.

—You're right, I'm sorry, it's just... —He took my left hand, intertwining our fingers.—I don't want someone to hurt you again as I did.

I started to feel strange, my cheeks felt hot, plus I felt like I was sweating a little bit and felt my heart beating so fast. What's wrong with me? I let go of his hand and put them behind me, he looked a bit disappointed but didn't try to take my hand again.

—Uhm, thanks, Fred... For worrying... Ah... I have to go now.

I started running all the way up to the seventh floor, I needed to be in a quiet place and away from Fred, but I definitely wouldn't go to my father's office because he would ask me why I am like this and things could get out of control, so I'll have to settle for going to my room.

Upon entering the common room, I saw that several of the people in here were laughing at something, as I approached the couches, I saw that they were actually laughing at someone.

—What happened? —I said as Hermione counter-hexed Neville, his legs no longer sticking together.

—It was Malfoy. He said he was looking for someone to practice it.

—You should speak to Professor McGonagall!

—I don't want to have any problems...

—Hermione is right Neville, you have to face Draco.

—Malfoy is used to walking all over people —Ron said— but that's no reason for you to throw yourself on the ground and make things easier for him.

—You don't have to remind me that I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy tells me that every day.

—You're worth twelve Malfoys, —Harry told him as he gave him a chocolate frog.— Who chose the hat to be in Gryffindor? You, not Malfoy, he's in stinky Slytherin.

—Neville, I've known Draco since before we could speak and let me tell you, I know you are much braver than him.

—Thanks, Eileen... Thanks, guys... I think that I'll go to bed now... Harry do you want the card? I know you collect them.

Neville left and now I was sitting on the arm of the sofa, Hermione was next to me, Ron and Harry were in front of us, I didn't know whether to say something to them and just leave. Harry was muttering something about the card Neville had given him.

—Uhm, Eileen... Thanks, for the book. —To my surprise, it was Ron who said it. I didn't expect that they would use the book, much less that he would thank me.

—I found it! —Harry said.— I found Flamel!

—Oh, we already know who he is, Harry.

—What? When? Why didn't you tell me?

—It was earlier today. —Hermione said. I could see that she was looking at me sideways, I was just playing with a thread that came out of my skirt. I must be using this skirt a lot since Aunt Cissy paid a lot of galleons to have charms in it that wouldn't make it so easy to tear apart.— Eileen gave us a book in the library about Flamel, we were going to tell you but then Neville arrived.

—You? —I looked up and Harry was staring at me.— How long have you known? And how do you know about him?

—I overheard you talking to Hagrid about him a few days before Christmas break, then a few days later I found out who he was.

—So you've known about him for weeks and you haven't told us?

—Oh sure, because it would have been very easy, right? With you, thinking that my father and I want to hurt you? Instead of being upset with me, Harry, you should be thankful that I gave them that book or right now you would still be looking for him.

I got up from the couch and walked to my bedroom, ready to sleep. Today had been an extremely long and extremely disappointing day and now my mind was only thinking about the comfort of my bed.

I had completely forgotten how I had felt with Fred.


	19. Year One - Chapter Nineteen

After giving the book to Ron and Hermione, she insisted on trying to talk to me, to be honest, I wasn't even mad at her anymore, I just wanted her to apologize, but she never tried to do that, just started talking to me like if nothing had happened so I kept ignoring her and sitting with Neville in most of the classes. Well, today that was a mistake.

After my dad explained to us the function of the Wiggenweld Potion, he made us do it for the rest of the class; everything seemed to be going well, Neville was following my instructions and his potion wasn't looking that bad.

—Now you have to add the flobberworm mucus, no, that's boom berry juice, you add that one later. Yes, it's that one, add it until the potion turns oran—

—Eileen! Do I have to remind you one more time that you are doing this potion _individually_? 1 point from Gryffindor

—I'm sorry.

I started to work on my potion until my dad finally stopped standing behind me and left, so I whispered to Neville.

—Just follow the instructions, it's really easy.

He looked extremely nervous and was even shaking, but he nodded anyway, he knew if I kept helping him, my dad would give us detention to both of us.

I kept working on my potion, looking sideways to Neville's just to make sure everything was going as good as possible, but because I was helping him a lot I was a little behind with mine, I stopped paying attention to him and focus on mine so that I could finish it on time. Oh, Merlin, what a mistake.

I was about to finish when I heard bubbling coming from Neville's cauldron, I turned to see what was going on because that wasn't supposed to happen, at this point his potion should have a turquoise colour, but his was completely brown like mud and was bubbling intensely as if the potion had feelings and was angry, _really_ angry.

—Neville! —I whispered.— What did you do?

—I-I-I don't know, I added the Honey Water and it turned like that.

—Let me see that.

I grabbed the flask he had in his hand and while inspecting it I noted that the label where it said _'Honey Water'_ was falling and underneath it said _'Dittany'_ why were the ingredients changed?

—W-what is going to—

Neville couldn't finish his question because the potion exploder and he and I ended up completely covered with the contents of the cauldron. With my hands, I cleaned up the remains of the potion that fell on my eyes and after opening them, the first thing I saw was my dad's face, there was a mix of fear, worry and anger in his eyes. I quickly interchanged Neville's cauldron with mine, so I gave him my potion, which was also ruined because parts of Neville's potion had fallen inside, but at least it was going to save him from detention.

—Longbottom!

I looked at Neville and he looked like a ghost, he was completely pale and wasn't blinking

—P-p-professor, I-I…

—It was my fault, dad, my potion was the one that exploded. I wasn't paying attention.

—Out, both.

—What? —Neville and I said at the same time.

—Out!

We left the classroom almost running and stayed outside waiting. We didn't have to wait much before he got out of the room, completely furious. He pulled out his wand and did a different version of the Scouring Charm, but the result was the same, my robes and my face were completely cleaned. He also cleaned Neville's clothes and face.

—I want to know what happened.

To our surprise, he spoke in a very calm way; I could see he was completely furious but was doing his best not to shout.

—It was my fault, dad.

—T-that's not true, professor. It was my fault.

I turned to see Neville, completely shocked, I couldn't believe he was really telling the truth to my dad and was even looking at him in the eyes, what happened to dumb Neville who was scared to be in the same room as my father?

—Are you going to really say whose fault was it or are you going to keep protecting each other? —Oh great, you could hear more clearly that he was getting angrier.

—What happened, dad, was… Yes, it was Neville's potion the one that exploded, but it wasn't his fault, look. —I handed him the flask, I was stilling holding it tightly in my hand, the one that was actually Dittany and not Honey Water; he grabbed it and started to inspect it.— See? Someone put a label on top so that the person who grabbed it would think it was Honey Water. I was watching his potion all the time and it was perfect until he added this.

—Where did you get this, Longbottom?

—F-from the students' supply cupboard, professor.

—Go back inside the classroom and wait until the class ends.

We walked inside the room again, as soon as we opened the door, everyone turned to see who it was, and they looked extremely surprised to see that we were still alive. Neville and I only sat back down on our seats and waited for the class to finish.

—Why did you do that? —I whispered.

—What?

—Tell the truth to my dad.

—I don't know… I guess… Well, I really thought about what you guys said to me last night. —I frowned, waiting for him to keep talking because I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.— The hat put me on Gryffindor for some reason, right?

—Oh, yes, the hat was right. That was very brave, Nev. —He smiled while I was patting his shoulder.

—I still felt I was going to piss all over me.

I tried hard not to laugh and ended up coughing really hard, making everyone turn to see me again and I stopped coughing.

The class finished after 15 minutes and after that disaster, I walked to the Black Lake to help Roger with the flying seahorse. It hadn't rained all day, but the sky was completely grey, so it was best not to stay outside for long.

When I got to the Lake, he was already there, throwing some stones into the lake.

—Ready to catch those seahorses?

Looked like he was completely distracted thinking in something because he got scared when he heard me and dropped the stone he had in his hand.

—Ah. —He smiled when he saw me, picked up the stone he had dropped and throw it to the lake.— Hullo, Eileen.

—Hi. So, are you ready? But I'm gonna need you to explain the charm to me, Fred only mentioned it but didn't explain it.

—Sure, take out your wand.

I grabbed my wand from one of the pockets of my robe and pointed it to the lake, he stood right next to me, grabbed my hand with his and started to move it in the form of a V.

—And then you just have to say _Carpe Retractum._

—Oh, that's easy.

We started looking for the flying seahorses, throwing more stones to the lake to provoke them and make them go flying. It wasn't that hard to catch them; the difficult part was putting them in the glass jar.

We talked about our classes for a while and somehow came up the topic of the incident that happened today, so I started telling him everything that happened, from me helping Neville until my dad made us go back to the classroom.

—The flask had another label? So, do you think any of your classmates did it?

—Well, I suppose, but I don't know who, I couldn't recognize the handwriting.

I put the last seahorse in the jar and handed it to Roger, he put it away in his bag, I grabbed mine and we started walking back to the castle.

—Why do you need so many of them, anyway? The potion only needs three.

—I… I may or may not have lost a bet to Cedric Diggory.

I smirked; boys can sometimes be complete idiots.

—And what was the bet?

—Well… —He chuckled and put a hand behind his head.— It was something dumb.

—Ah, come on! What was it?

—We bet who could hold up more time in a classroom full of dungbombs. The loser had to capture the seahorses.

—What is it why you guys and your dumb bets? —I started laughing and he smiled.— The other day, Seamus dared Dean that he couldn't eat 20 donuts in less than 10 minutes.

—And he did it?

—Sadly, yes. You don't want to know what happened next.

He laughed and I felt something falling on my head, I looked up and the sky was full of clouds, more and more drops started falling over my face; in a matter of seconds it was raining a lot, Roger and I started running, covering our shoes with mud.

We walked to the Entrance Hall and stood there, trying to catch our breath. I looked at our clothes all wet and full of dirt, dripping and creating a puddle of mud.

—If Filch finds us like this, he's going to kill us.

Roger grabbed his wand and did a complicated movement with his hand while whispering something; a wave of warm air came out of the tip of his wand, drying our clothes and hair.

—I think we still have time to go to the Great Hall and eat something quick. —He said while looking at the watch in his right arm.— Do you want to go?

I nodded and we walked up the great marble staircase, leaving just a little bit of dirt after each step.

—Have you talk to your father?

—No, the game is tomorrow, right? I'll talk to him after dinner, I just hope he isn't mad at me for what happened in class.

—I know I asked you, but you really don't have to do it if you don't want to.

—No, it's fine… The Gryffindor Quidditch team also asked me to do it, or, well, it looked like it… And of course, I also want Gryffindor to win.

We entered the Hall and I saw that my dad was still here, he frowned when he saw us and was looking at Roger, I rolled my eyes and said goodbye to Roger, we left to sit in our tables, there weren't a lot of people here because lunch was almost about to finish, but Fred and George were still there, so I sat in front of them.

—Hi, guys.

—Hey, Leen. We saw you enter with _Mister Davies_ , is there something you want to tell us?

—What is there to say? We're just friends, just like I'm friends with you two.

—Yeah, sure. Lee saw you yesterday, very hidden in the library with him and now you two come to lunch when it's about to finish, what were you doing when everyone was here? Giving little kisses to Ravenclaw's Chaser?

George started giving kisses to the air while I felt my cheeks get a little bit red and hot, Fred was just quiet and concentrated on eating his food.

—Ew! Roger and I are only friends, and if you really want to know, I was helping him catch some flying seahorses, that's why we were late.

George laugh and Fred was still quiet, I just started to serve myself the leftovers of tomato soup.

—Well, Leen, we'll go to the pitch to train, wanna come with us?

—Are you going to train with this rain?

—Oliver orders, he really wants to win the cup this year. So…?

—No, sorry, I think I prefer to stay here with my clothes dry. Good luck.

They left and I ended up alone eating my soup, I could feel a pair of eyes watching me from the professors' table and when I looked up, I saw my dad looking at me.

_—_ _Where were you?_

I was startled when I heard that and dropped the spoon, splashing myself with a little bit of soup, am I going crazy and finally, hearing voices?

— _You are not crazy._ —I grabbed the spoon again and kept eating when I realized the voice belonged to my dad's. — _With Legeremancy I can not only see your memories and your feelings, but I can also hold a conversation with you inside your mind._

_—_ _You could've told me earlier, don't you think?_ —I answered him inside my mind.

_—_ _I admit it was funny to see you get startled._ —I looked up to see him and I saw that behind his cup of coffee he was smiling, I stuck out my tongue as discreetly as I could, and he was still smiling. I can't believe he thinks this is funny!— _You haven't answered my question, what were you doing and why were you with Mr Davies?_

_—_ _Isn't it obvious, dad? We were here, at Hogwarts, where else could we have been?_

_—_ _Hogsmeade, maybe?_

_—_ _Don't you have a class you should be in?_

_—_ _We'll talk about this later, Eileen. I know you don't have more classes now, so I want you to wait in my office. Come on._

I lazily got up from my seat, grabbed my bag from under the table and followed my dad outside of the Hall, we walked down the marble staircase and kept walking to his office.

—Hey, dad…

—Yes?

—I'm sorry for what happened in class. —He put his hand in my right shoulder and squeezed it a little bit.— You're not mad at me, are you?

—No, I know it was not your fault or surprisingly, Longbottom's fault. —I smirked after I heard him say that, Neville isn't that bad in classes when he isn't working under pressure.

—Do you have any idea of who could've done it?

—Not yet.

We kept walking and I realized that he took me to the potion's classroom and not his office. There was no one outside so I assumed all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were already inside.

—I don't want you to cause any distraction and go directly to my office.

—Me? Cause a distraction? I'm offended, father.

He sighed and I chuckled. When my dad opened the door, everyone inside stopped making any kind of noise, I walked behind my dad and it was so funny to see the confused faces some of them were making, I saw Roger sitting in the front, next to Cedric, I waved my hand and he waved back.

My dad started to write some things on the board with his wand and I walked to the end of the room, where the door to his office was. I opened the door and closed it behind me as quietly as I could. I walked to the door where a little kitchen was and sat down in the table that was in the middle of the room. I pulled out some parchment from my bag and started doing my D.A.D.A homework, we had to do an essay about the _Gytrash._ Professor Quirrell had only assigned us to do one page, but I got excited and ended up doing three pages.

I was adding the final details to my essay when I heard someone opening the door to the office and seconds later I saw my dad walking into the kitchen and headed directly where the coffee maker was and started making himself a cup of coffee.

—Hi, did you have a good class?

—No, one potion could've exploded if I hadn't noticed it in time.

—Does that happen a lot? Potions that go bad.

—More than you think.

—I just don't know what's so hard about following instructions…

He sat next to me with a cup of coffee in hand and started reading my essay.

—You wrote 'Gytrash' wrong.

I looked where his finger was pointing and sure enough, in the title, I had written 'Jytrash'

—I knew it looked weird… —I grabbed my quill and tried to write it correctly, but I couldn't even notice if it was a G or a J anymore, ah, doesn't matter, professor Quirrell knows what I'm talking about.— What did you want to talk to me about?

—I want to know what your relationship with Mr Davies is.

—Relationship? —I chuckled.— We're just friends. I think. Acquaintances?

—And where were you during lunchtime?

—Agh! Not this again, dad… — I turned around in my chair to look at him better and he was frowning for the ten thousand times this day.— George asked me the same question when he saw us walking into the Hall. I was just helping him to catch the seahorses for your class. He helped me carrying some books yesterday and I returned the favour.

He gave another sip to his coffee and stared at something in the wall in front.

—You are hanging out with a lot of boys lately. I don't like it.

—But, what's the problem?

—I know how problematic boys can be at that age.

—Are you saying you were problematic? —I smiled widely, and he just took another sip of his coffee.— Will you let me try your coffee?

—No.

—Oh, come on! I'm already 12 years old.

—I won't let you drink coffee until you are 16.

I sighed in frustration, sometimes it's tiring that he keeps treating me like a five-year-old girl. He got up and left the cup in the sink, which started cleaning itself.

—If you still have work to do, you can stay here and do them. I'll be in my office marking some essays.

—Wait! About tomorrow's match…

—I won't let Gryffindor win.


	20. Year One - Chapter Twenty

You could feel the excitement and the nervous all over the Gryffindor Tower; today was the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff and everyone was nervous that my father would do something on purpose to make Gryffindor lose. And everyone was letting me know.

I was on my way to the Quidditch pitch when someone grabbed me from my arm and pushed me against a wall. After rubbing my head where I hit against the wall, I opened my eyes and saw Cormac McLaggen standing right in front of me.

—What do you want, McLaggen?

—I suppose you know your dad is going to be today's referee.

—If you think he's going to let Gryffindor win just because I ask him to do it, you're wrong. Now, leave me alone.

I tried to keep walking, but he pushed me again against the wall.

—Then you don't deserve to be in Gryffindor, are you really going to let Slytherin win when only you can change that? No wait, don't tell me, you want your precious boyfriend Davies to win, right? I heard from the twins how great you get along with him and Ravenclaw it's so close to Slytherin in points right now. You should be ashamed that you support every house but yours.

—What is going on here?

I looked to my right and I saw Roger aiming his wand to McLaggen.

—Defending your girlfriend, Davies? But it's none of your business, so you better leave.

—I won't leave until you leave Eileen alone.

McLaggen chuckled and started to pull out his wand, what kind of idiot thinks it's a great idea to try to duel against someone a year older than you? Looks like Roger also saw that, because McLaggen didn't even have time to say something when Roger cast a spell.

— _Furnunculus!_

McLaggen's face started to break out with boils and he tried to cover his face with his hands, I took advantage that he wasn't paying attention to me and walked away from him until I was next to Roger.

—You're going to pay for this!

He left running to the infirmary, after that, is he really that dumb to think he can win against Roger? Maybe my dad was right and we Gryffindors can be such dunderheads sometimes.

—Are you all right? —By the tone of his voice, you could note he was really preoccupied.

—Yeah, my head hurts a little, but it's nothing… Thanks for helping me.

—Why didn't you do anything against him?

—I wasn't sure if I could…

—Are you kidding? You probably know more spells than someone from seventh year!

—That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm good at duelling. Besides, I have the feeling he would've tried to have a physical fight and there's no way I could've won against that. —He chuckled and I just smiled, I grabbed his arm and started to walk.— Come on, the match with begging at any moment and I don't think you want to miss this.

—And what did he want, anyway?

—What everyone wants, for me to ask my dad to let Gryffindor win.

—Oh… I'm sorry…

—Don't be, you only asked if I could talk to him, he was basically trying to force me to do it. Two completely different things.

—Still, I shouldn't-

—No, there's no problem, Roger. —I Interrupted him— Oh! We can sit over there!

We walked up the stairs in the stands and sat next to some Ravenclaws and a big number of Hufflepuffs. I felt like an intruder being surrounded by so many people that didn't belong in my house or that they were people I didn't even know, but there wasn't a set available close to the Gryffindors.

—Hello, Roger.

We both turned our heads to see who was talking, it was a girl that I think it's a year older than me, she had reddish curly hair. I think I've seen her sometimes in the library, but I have absolutely no idea what her name is.

—Oh, hey Marietta.

—Don't you prefer to sit with me? —She said that in an extremely sweet tone, but when she looked at me her face changed and looked like she had step on Hippogriff dung.

—Ahm, no, thank you. —He looked like he was kind of uncomfortable and this situation wasn't that pleasant either, so I just decided to see the match; my dad had given Hufflepuff a penalty for some reason, Harry was still looking for the Snitch.— I promised Eileen we would watch the match together.

I turned my head to see him, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, he never promised me that, does he feel that uncomfortable being with her? He noticed my look and smiled at me, hoping that I would follow with his lie. In the meantime, my father had given Hufflepuff another penalty; I guess he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't going to let Gryffindor win.

It looked like Marietta wanted to say something, but you couldn't hear her over the excited screams of everyone around us, apparently Harry finally saw the Snitch. Marietta tried to talk again, so I put my hands around my mouth and started to shout.

—COME ON, HARRY!

Roger and all the other Ravenclaws (and even some Hufflepuffs, surprisingly) started to do the same, yelling stuff to support Harry, Marietta gave up on trying to speak so she just kept sitting with her arms crossed in front of her.

I felt my blood run cold when I saw Harry flying at a high speed towards my dad and I was scared they would crash with each other, but luckily, he moved just in time so Harry just passed next to him by a couple of inches, after that, Harry was raising his hand, holding the Snitch.

We won.

I can't believe it! We won!

I jumped in my seat screaming and clapping, Roger was also clapping next to me. I grabbed him by his arm and quickly walk down the stairs to the field, the first players I saw were Fred and George and I ran towards them, hugging Fred with such force that I almost knocked him into the ground.

—We won, guys! You were great!

Fred hugged me tightly and after a couple of seconds he let me go, so I hugged George next, but his hug was quickly, and he didn't hug me tight like Fred did.

—We didn't do much. —Fred said.— Harry's the one that was amazing.

—The match lasted like 5 minutes! —George said.

—Congratulations, it was a great game. —Roger got close to the twins and gave them a handshake to both. — See you later, Eileen.

I said goodbye to him while waving my hand and smiling, he started to walk back to the castle, and it didn't take long for him to see his friends and they started to walk together.

In the distance, I saw Harry being carried on the shoulders of some seventh-year Gryffindor and behind him, I saw Hermione and Ron… Bleeding?

—What happened to Ron? —I asked the twins, they both turned to look for Ron and when they saw him, they ran towards him and I didn't want to stay alone in the middle of the field so I walked towards them as well.

—What happened, Ronnikins? —I heard George asked Ron.

Even though he was bleeding, Ron looked extremely happy and couldn't stop smiling.

—I fought with Malfoy! Neville even fought with Crabbe and Goyle!

When I heard Draco's name, I walked closer to hear him. Fred and George were both smiling and patting his back, congratulating him for beating Draco up.

—Draco? Where is he?

—Probably in the infirmary. —Ron said still smiling. Idiot.— I gave him a black eye! Neville fought with Crabbe and Goyle all by himself! Sure, he's unconscious now but it was awesome!

I started running towards the castle, I bumped into someone and almost fell to the ground, but I didn't stop to see who it was, I only said _I'm sorry_ and kept running to the infirmary.

When I was on the ground floor I stopped running and walked up the stairs, trying to catch my breath. I opened the door to the infirmary and the first person I saw was Neville in a bed, still unconscious like Rod said, so I didn't bother to go and talk to him

A few beds ahead I saw Madam Pomfrey pointing her wand to someone and doing some spells, I couldn't see who it was because the curtains were covering the person but when I got close I saw Draco sitting in the bed, surprisingly without his gorillas of Crabbe and Goyle.

—That's all, Mr Malfoy, your eye should be back to normal in five minutes so I'm going to ask you to stay here to make sure that happens, if after the five minutes your eye is still black, come talk to me in my office. I see that you have visitors, so I'll leave you alone.

Draco turned around to see who Madam Pomfrey was talking about and his eyebrows got so high up that they seemed to disappear in his hair. Looks like he wanted to see someone else.

—I came here as soon as I heard what Ron did to you, are you all right? —I walked closer and sat down next to him in the bed.

—Ha! Never better. It was worthy to have a black eye for leaving Weasel with his nose bleeding.

—I know, I saw him… But that doesn't matter, what matters is that you're fine. Where are your gorillas? I thought they were always glued to you.

—Who? Crabbe and Goyle? —I nodded.— I told them to wait in our common room. There is a limit to which a person can be so close to such idiocy. Speaking of idiocy… I'm sorry.

—Sorry? Draco Malfoy saying he's sorry again? I must ask for a wish. —We both laughed. — But what are you sorry about?

—Well, yesterday… In potions… After Uncle Severus took you and _Schlongbottom_ out of the classroom, he told us how dangerous it can be not to follow the instructions or using the wrong ingredients. Obviously, at that moment I was so worried about you, thinking that something had happened to you, but I forgot about it as soon as I saw you walk inside the room again.

I was looking at the bed we were both sitting on and playing with the folds of the sheet, I looked at him when he stopped talking, confusion written all over my face.

—I don't get it… You're sorry because… Because you were worried?

—No, later in the day I realized that _Schlongbottom's_ potion was ruined because… Because someone had changed the labels of the ingredients. I knew you were fine, but… —His voice started to break a little and he was doing a great effort not to cry. Oh no, Draco, what are you trying to tell me?

—But, —Draco continued.— I couldn't avoid thinking about what Uncle Severus told us and that if it had been another ingredient or another potion that we were working on, something horrible could've happened to you because of me… I-I was the one who asked Goyle to change the label of the ingredients, I thought it was going to be funny to see the potion of someone from your house to get ruined but it never crossed my mind that it could affect you. You're like my cousin, no, you're like a sister to me and I don't know what I would do without you. Even worse, knowing that if something h-happened to you it would've been my fault.

Draco wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe, trying to hide the fact that he was crying, it wasn't until he did that that I realized some tears were falling on my cheeks.

—Draco, you… You… You're an idiot!

—I know…

—I could've died!

—I know…

I hugged him tightly while my tears kept falling, wetting my robes. Draco was surprised that I was hugging him and finally hugged me back.

—I hope you learned your lesson and never do something like that again, prat.

He laughed and hugged me with more force, but we stopped when I heard someone moving the curtains, when I turned, I saw my dad, and he was extremely angry.

—I am sorry to interrupt this… _Lovely_ moment. —He said, clenching his teeth.— I would have been here sooner if someone hadn't bumped into me in the Quidditch field.

—Oh, it was you? Sorry, dad.

—But it looks like I heard something I have been trying to find out all day yesterday. Would you like to repeat what you said to Eileen, Draco?

Draco was so pale; I think you could even see through him.

—I'm so sorry, Uncle Severus… I wasn't thinking when I decided to do that.

—Clearly, you weren't. I am very disappointed in you, Draco, I thought you knew better than to be doing something so stupid. I will write to your parents and you will be in detention.

My dad turned around and left the infirmary, I turned to see Draco, he was already recovering his normal colour on his face.

—I'm sorry, Leen. I promise I won't do anything that puts you again in danger.

—I hope it's true. —I got up from the bed and grabbed my bag, lying down on the floor.— By the way, your eye already turned to normal.

I left the infirmary and made a beeline towards Gryffindor Tower; I knew everyone would be celebrating Gryffindor's victory and I wanted something to distract my mind from thinking that existed the possibility of Draco killing me by accident.

How is it possible that Draco Malfoy, _the_ Draco Malfoy, who never apologizes, apologized today, but Hermione can't apologize for everything she said about my dad?


	21. Year One - Chapter Twenty One

—Concentrate.

—That's what I'm doing!

Several memories kept appearing in my mind; my first day at Hogwarts, how nervous I felt that day at Malfoy Manor. I had managed to improve a little since my father started teaching me Occlumency, but I felt I had hit a wall and he always ended up seeing all my memories. I could manage to keep him out for a couple of minutes but it never mattered how much I tried, he always saw at least one memory.

_—_ _Don't you prefer to sit with me? —She said that in an extremely sweet tone, but when she looked at me her face changed and looked like she had stepped on Hippogriff dung._

_—_ _Ahm, no, thank you. —He looked like he was kind of uncomfortable and this situation wasn't that pleasant either, so I just decided to see the match; my dad had given Hufflepuff a penalty for some reason, Harry was still looking for the Snitch.— I promised Eileen we would watch the match together._

_I turned my head to see him, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, he never promised me that, does he feel that uncomfortable being with her? He noticed my look and smiled at me, hoping that I would follow with his lie. In the meantime, my father had given Hufflepuff another penalty; I guess he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't going to let Gryffindor win._

—Dad, I'm really tired… Can't we do this some other day?

—Eileen, it is really important that you learn how to block your mind, to know how to stay calm and don't let people read you like an open book.

—But…

—Empty your mind. Don't think about anything. _Legilimens!_

_—_ _Are you completely sure, Filch? Do I have to remind you that it is my daughter you are accusing of leaving the castle?_

_—_ _I'm sorry, Professor Snape, but no one knows where she is._

_—_ _Well, then what are you two waiting for? Professor Snape, could you please help open this passage?_

_That was our signal to run out of there, I ran like I had never done before, and it was even more difficult because the pants were in the way and it's really uncomfortable. It was very likely that they could hear our shoes hitting the ground, but that didn't matter to me, I just wanted to get out of the tunnel and get to the castle in another way._

_—_ _What do we do now? —I almost yelled at the boys, but I was nervous, I was scared._

—It appears someone wasn't in the bathroom that day as you as told me.

—Dad, I…

—Silence.

I was afraid of looking him in the eyes, so I stared at my shoes. I can't believe I let him see that memory! Everything was going great, I had managed to keep him out of any memory I really didn't want him to see, but now I was too tired to avoid it.

—You lied to me. Several times.

—Dad-

—Didn't I tell you to stay quiet? You left the castle! And you lied to my face! —He didn't say anything for a while, I wasn't sure if I should keep looking at my shoes, turn to see him or just try to run out of here.— You will be in detention for the rest of the term and I do not want to see you close to any of the Weasleys. Especially the twins.

—WHAT!? Dad, that's not fair!

—Not fair!? —I turned to see him and he was trying to calm down, he smirked and as soon he saw me I couldn't help to look back to the floor.— Eileen, life isn't fair, and even less when you get out of the castle when you know you shouldn't! You won't speak to any of them again, every Friday for the rest of the term you will come here to have your detention and you also won't go with the Malfoy's during the Easter Holiday. You will have to explain to Narcissa in a letter the great stupidity you did and why you are not going.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees, I started crying like I hadn't done in a long time. I heard someone walking and then the sound of a door opening and closing with extreme force. I raised my head and with my hands, I wiped my tears

After a couple of minutes, I got up and left his office, closing the door with extreme force as well that I think everyone in the dungeons heard it. I can't believe I will be in detention for the rest of the year… I can't believe he prohibits me from talking to Fred and George!

I didn't make sense that he got mad over that, it happened months ago and nothing bad happened! And he even told me he had his suspicions that it was us, why he didn't do something back then? Agh, I hate him so much!

Without knowing, my legs took me to the owlery, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was already here so I pulled a piece of parchment and a quill, I looked for a step that wasn't completely covered in owl droppings, with my foot I moved the rest of a dead rat lying there and sat down to write.

_Dear Aunt Cissy,_

_It looks like the starts hate me and they are making every possible thing so that I cannot go visit you. My father just told me I can't go to the Manor over the Easter Holidays, truth be told, it really was my fault but I just think he is overreacting as always._

_On Hallowe'en, I got out of Hogwarts with a couple of friends during the hour of the first class and we went to Hogsmeade, yes, I know I shouldn't have done it but honestly, what was the worst thing that could've happened? To spend all my money on sweets? The village is completely safe and we only went to Honeydukes._

_Anyway, my dad found out about that today (even though he told me he had his suspicious so, why did he get mad now?) and told me that I will be in detention the rest of the term, I can't go visit you and he also forbade me from speaking with my friends! Could you or Uncle Lucius please talk to him and let him know he is overreacting?_

_Loves you,_

_Eileen Snape._

_PD: I'm sorry for 'borrowing' Draco's owl._

I folded the letter and looked for Draco's owl, although it wasn't hard to find it; it was the biggest of all and the most beautiful.

—Hey, Anguis. —I started to stroke his feathers and let him remember me before I tried to give him the letter.— I'm sorry I have to bother you when I know you go every day to the Malfoy Manor and come back here. —I smiled when I heard Anguis hoot as if trying to confirm what I was saying.— But I really need you to take this to Aunt Cissy, can you do it?

I moved my hands closer to his leg and after looking at me for a couple of seconds, just turned his head and looked to the trees, so I tied the letter to his leg.

—There, feel free to rest when you get there. I'm not in a hurry to get a response.

After I said that it started flying and I looked at him until he disappeared in all of the trees, I turned around and got scared when I saw someone in the entrance to the owlery.

—Merlin, Roger! —He started laughing at my reaction.— Why did you do that?

—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but I wasn't sure I wanted to interrupt such a beautiful moment with your owl.

I walked up to him and hit him slightly in his arm.

—Prat. I wasn't having any beautiful moment with Anguis.

—Anguis? —He started laughing again.— The name of the owl is _snake_?

—Stop laughing, Roger! —I hit him again slightly in his arm, but I was chuckling as well, Anguis was really a dumb name for an owl.— Besides, I didn't name him, it was my cousin.

—Are you excited for the Easter Holidays? —He pulled a letter from a pocket of his robe and walked up to one of the school owls.— I'm staying here in the castle, you?

—Well, I was excited, I was supposed to go stay with my Aunt and Uncle, but my dad is mad at me and now I have to stay here.

—Really? Why?

—I may or may not have gone to Hogsmeade without him knowing on Hallowe'en. And he may or may not have found out.

I was biting my lower lip while I was watching his reactions and waited for him to tell me something; his eyebrows were so high up that they seemed to disappear in his hair and his mouth was slightly opened. I sat back down in the same step I sat earlier and after a couple of seconds he sat down next to me.

—You're pulling my leg, right?

—Nope, I really went to Hogsmeade. Twice, actually, but don't tell that to my dad, he thinks I only went once.

—But… How? Isn't the gate closed with several spells? Although, well, I wouldn't be surprised you knew how to take them down… —He chuckled and ran his right hand through his hair.— Tell me everything.

—Wow, I'm flattered you think I could take down the spells of the great Albus Dumbledore but actually, there are several passageways that take you to Hogsmeade, there's one that leaves you close to the station.

—That's… Amazing.

—Yeah, maybe, but now I'll have to stay here during the holiday and also will be in detention for the rest of the term…

Roger put his hand on my shoulder and squeeze it a little bit, I turned to see him and he had a little smile on his face so I smiled too. I looked at his eyes, I never really payed attention to them so I thought they were black, but he actually has hazel eyes… Why is his face getting closer? Is he getting closer? Merlin, why is he getting closer!?

I closed my eyes and felt something soft and warm over my lips, oh great Salazar, those are Roger's lips! Roger's kissing me! What do I do? How do you kiss someone?

I raised my arms, thinking I should put them somewhere, (on his arms? His hands?) but I had absolutely no idea what to do, so I put them back over my knees.

After a couple of seconds, Roger backed up and we were both smiling like idiots.

—I'm sorry, Eileen, I—

—No, it's… It's okay. —I got closer to him and kissed him again quickly in the lips. Is this what I'm supposed to do? I got up and shook my robe, I couldn't stop feeling I had owl droppings everywhere.— Well, uhm. I-I'll see you at dinner.

* * *

_Dear Eileen,_

_I was surprised to read your letter and know you are not coming again, I know I should be angry with you for doing something so foolish like that, but if I'm being honest, Lucius and I laughed for a while. Don't think we were laughing at you, darling, but we laughed over the fact that you are so much like your mother. She also got out of Hogwarts to go to Hogsmeade with us in her first year, but I'll tell you the details another day._

_Try no to get into more trouble, I really would like to talk with you over the summer holidays and know how your first year went. I will also send a letter to your father, it does seem a little unfair what he did, but just remember that he only wants what is best for you and wants you to be safe and happy. Just like us._

_Narcissa Malfoy._


	22. Year One - Chapter Twenty Two

A couple of weeks had passed since Roger kissed me and we hadn't spoken since that day, from time to time I would see him in the corridors but we never said anything, only waved our hands to say 'hello'.

I was so tired that I couldn't even remember what professor Sprout had said about the Devil's Snare, it was something related to the sun… Does this plant like the sun? Yeah, I think it was that… Or does it hates it?

—I think I better go take a walk before I go crazy… —I whispered to myself. I don't know why I do that sometimes.— Oh! It's been a while since I last saw Hagrid!

Everyone around me looked at me strangely whey they realized I was talking to myself, so I quickly put my books in my bag and left the library.

I calmly walked up to Hagrid's Hut; the weather today was a little warm, so I had put my hair in a high ponytail… Or well, I tried to do it, but a couple of strands of hair were falling next to my face. I was thinking between using my cloak or not because I was definitely sure I was going to melt from the heat, I had never liked the hot weather, but for some reason, I still decided to use the cloak. Big mistake. How does my father like to be wearing black clothes all the time?

I also hadn't spoken to my dad since that day, I was still really angry with him, I wouldn't even talk to him when I was in his office for my detentions, I would only sit in a chair and start to separate or crush whatever ingredient he had decided would be awful enough for me; last week I had to crush cockroaches just because he saw me talking with Fred and George and only made me stop when he saw I was close to puking. I didn't really think he was being serious about not talking to them, but since that day I'm terrified of just simply seeing the twins in the corridors.

I knocked on the Hut's door and heard a couple of voices, but I couldn't recognize them, the door opened and behind it, I saw Hagrid, who looked a little worried, but he relaxed as soon as he saw me.

—Ah, Eileen! C'me in, c'me in…

—Hi, Hagrid. —I smiled and walked inside, sitting around the table I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione. When they saw me, Harry and Ron decided to keep looking at the chimney, Hermione only smiled and waved her hand.— Oh, I didn't know you were here.

I felt Hagrid's big hand in my back and he led me to a chair, making me sit next to Hermione. I started pulling the sleeves of the school shirt up to my elbows, the heat in here was unbearable. Why does Hagrid have the chimney on?

—Uhm, Hagrid, why do you have the chimney on? —I said while taking off my cloak.— You do know that outside it's warm, right?

—Can ye keep a secret?

—You know I can, Hagrid.

I saw Ron shaking his head, trying to say to Hagrid not to trust me, but I would never betray him; the only time I did it was when I found out I was going to stay in the castle during Christmas and I told my dad that Hagrid was lying and Draco had never insulted Ron's family, but the next day I came to apologize and explained everything to him and he understood, he wasn't even mad at me. Everyone should be like Hagrid.

I walked up to the chimney, where Hagrid was looking at something underneath a pot, when I had a better look, I noticed it was… An egg?

—Hagrid, is that… An egg? Wait… Is that an egg from a Norwegian Ridgeback? Those are extremely rare!

I sat next to Hermione again, I wanted to keep looking at the egg, but it was extremely hot being so close to it and I had started to sweat. Ew.

—You're right. How did you know that?

—I used to be a little obsessed with dragons when I was seven, so Uncle Lucius took us to the Norwegian Dragon Sanctuary and we saw a lot of Norwegian Ridgebacks, did you know that their fangs are venomous?

—Did you really went there? —Ron asked, it looked like he was trying his best to look like he didn't care and didn't want to talk with me, but because of the sound of his voice, I could notice he was excited.

—Yeah, and we also went to the Sanctuary in Sweden to see the annual broom racing.

—You're kidding! —Ron was smiling now, forgetting he didn't want to talk to me.— Did you get to see any dragons there?

—Not only that, but I also was able to pet one of the babies of the Swedish Short-Snout, it was amazing! The guard didn't want to let us get close at first because they can be quite dangerous, but of course, Uncle Lucius talked to him and got into an agreement with him.

—What are you going to do when it's hatched? —Hermione asked Hagrid.

—Well… I've bin doin' some readin' —Hagrid said, and put a large book on top of the table.— I got this outta the library, it's a bit outta date, but it's all in here. Their mothers breathe on 'em, so that's why I have it in the fire. I'll feed it a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour when it hatches.

I turned to see Hermione and she looked at me, it looks like we were thinking the same thing

—But, Hagrid, —Hermione said.— You live in a wooden house.

He didn't pay any attention and kept feeding the fire, after a while, we said goodbye and the four of us left the hut. Ron was still very interested in the annual broom race, so the rest of the walk up to the castle, I kept telling him everything about that day.

Who would've thought that a dragon would make us talk to each other again?

* * *

During the next days I kept going alone to Hagrid's, just to make sure that everything was all right with the dragon, every day I was getting more and more worried because he was completely excited to finally have a dragon, but every time I asked what he was going to do when it started to grow, he never answered and just kept pouring more tea in my cup.

I was still sitting with Neville during classes and during mealtimes, because, even though Ron and I talked for hours about dragons that day, I still didn't really feel comfortable being with them, and they still hadn't apologized for everything they said!

—Before you leave. —Professor Sprout said while she was grabbing some parchments from her desk.— I'm returning graded your latest assignment. I'm happy that most of you did a great job.

She started walking between the tables handing the papers, trying that they didn't get dirty with… Dirt. I looked at Hermione and noticed that she was really nervous, and looked extremely anxious to leave, does she really thinks she got a bad grade? But then I saw that Harry and Ron were just as anxious as Hermione, why are they so eager to leave? Are they hungry? Because I am definitely hungry.

—Here you go, miss Snape. And no, the Devil's Snare _does not_ like the sun. I'm going to ask you to pay more attention in class or else I'll have to talk to Professor Snape.

I grabbed my work and I made a face when I saw I got a 60 out of 100, that's the lowest score I've gotten in all my classes! I don't even get scores so low in History of Magic.

When Sprout finally let us leave, Harry, Ron and Hermione left running out of the greenhouse, I started walking towards the castle, but when I saw that they were going to Hagrid's Hut, I changed my direction and started walking faster to catch with them.

—Wait! —I yelled, the three of them turned and stood still, when I got close to them I put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.— Why are you three in such a hurry? Did something happened with… You know?

—I knew we should've told you. —Hermione said.— It's about to hatch.

—Oh, that's amazing! Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't want to miss this!

—And we're all going to miss it if we don't hurry, c'mon!

—Whatever you say, Captain Ronald.

I rolled my eyes and walked behind them, Harry knocked in the door and an extremely happy Hagrid opened the door. We both walked inside quickly and we saw the egg over the table, moving and doing weird noises.

—It's nearly out.

We sat in the chairs and waited until the dragon got out of the egg, I hadn't noticed I was holding in my breath until the egg finally cracked and I sighed loudly.

The baby dragon flopped on the table, its spiny wings were far too big for its small body, same with its long snout, but what seemed funniest to me were his bulging, orange eyes.

—Isn't he beautiful? —Hagrid said while trying to pet it, but the dragon bit him in one of his fingers.

—How long does it take for a Norwegian Ridgeback to grow? —Hermione asked, Hagrid was about to answer her but his face paled and run to the window.— What's wrong?

—Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains, a kid, he's runnin' back up ter the school.

I got up from my seat and stood on tiptoe, trying to look outside the window, while Harry opened the door to see.

Despite the distance, there was no doubt.

Draco saw the dragon.


	23. Year One - Chapter Twenty Three

—Draco, promise me you won't tell anyone about what you saw the other day.

—And let you get away with it as always?

—Please, Draco, I know you don't like Harry, but this will also affect Hagrid.

Draco arched a brow and kept organizing the jars of ingredients on the shelves; apparently, Uncle Lucius and my dad got to an agreement and he would have to take his detention with me for changing the labels of the ingredients. So now here we were, cleaning my dad's office in the worst way imaginable: without magic, like muggles.

—I don't remember that you cared so much for whatever happened to that man, didn't you lied in the face to Uncle Severus saying he was lying, and Weasel had attacked me?

—Yes, I did, but that doesn't mean it was okay to do it, and I already apologized to Hagrid. Please, _Dray_ , just be on my side just this once.

— I've already told you that I don't like it when you call me like that.

—Stop talking and keep cleaning.

I heard my dad's voice from the door, but at any moment I heard it open, how long has he been there? Did he hear what I said about the dragon? I turned to see him, but he didn't look angry or anything, just more tired than usual, he had a pile of papers in his hand, he sat down at his desk and started reading them. I suppose that's a good sign that he didn't hear a thing.

When detention was over, I made a beeline to the library; Harry, Ron and Hermione were supposed to wait for me so that the four of us would walk together to Hagrid's. Things between us looked like they were improving but I wasn't sure if we were friends again or if we were together only because of the dragon thing.

—Hey, guys. Ready to go with Hagrid?

—Did you get Malfoy to say nothing about it? —Ron said while holding the door of the library and waiting for us to get out.

—I don't know, Ron. I mean, I asked him not to say anything, but he couldn't say anything else because my dad was close, listening. I guess that means something, right? He could've told my dad at that moment.

—That idiot… Why can't he just keep his nose out of other people business?

—Well, maybe you should've been more careful instead of saying out loud what Hagrid is doing.

To my surprise, Harry and Ron turned to see Hermione, was she the one talking about it? That's weird, I had imagined it was Ron who messed up…

Harry knocked at the door and after Hagrid opened the door, we all sat around the table, the dragon was sleeping in the bed and it was almost as big as the bed.

—Have you decided what are you going to do with him, Hagrid?

—What do you mean, Eileen? Well, I'll feed him and take care of him.

—You should let him go, Hagrid. —Harry said.— Let him free.

—I can't! He's so little, he wouldn't survive.

I turned to see the dragon, in a week it was probably going to be as big as me, besides, at any moment someone else will notice that something is going on, if not maybe because Hagrid isn't doing his job, then maybe because the floor is covered in feathers and bottles of brandy. Merlin's pants, there's already smoke coming out of his nostrils and it won't take long before it starts spitting fire. I just hope that any of us is not here to see it.

—I decided to call him Norbert —Hagrid said while looking at the dragon as if it were a human baby. Yup. Definitely not weird.— He knows me now, Norbert! Norbert! Where's mommy?

—He's already lost his marbles. —Ron whispered to Harry.

—But, Hagrid, in two weeks Norbert will be as big as your house and Malfoy could tell it to Dumbledore at any moment.

—I know, Harry. I-I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him.

—Charlie. —Harry said while looking at Ron, I got closer to Hermione, who was sitting to my left and whispered.

—Hagrid's craziness already affected Harry; we should leave before it's too late.

—You're also losing your mind! I'm Ron.

—No, Charlie, your brother… We could send Norbert to him and he will take care of him!

—Uh, Harry, how do you think to do that? I don't think there are enough owls here to carry a dragon.

—Of course not, Eileen, but we could send him a letter and ask him how, they must be moving dragons all the time, right, Ron?

—Yeah, I supposed, what do you think, Hagrid?

Hagrid kept looking at Norbert for a couple of seconds and sighed.

—I guess so… I always liked yer brother and I know he'll take care of him.

* * *

—You should go to Madam Pomfrey, Ron. That bite looks awful; besides, I've already told you the fangs of a Norwegian Ridgeback are venomous.

—And say, what, Eileen? That I got bitten by a dog? I haven't even seen a dog around here besides Fang.

—I don't know, but that won't disappear so easily. Hide your hand or else the Fat Lady will start asking questions. —Rod hid his bloodied hand in one of his pockets before the Fat Lady could see it.

—Password?

—Audacissimus! —The portrait opened, and I helped Ron climbed the hole.

—Why the password is never something easy? Like _Gryffindor_ or I don't know.

—Sure thing, Ron, and let anyone enter so easily? Now I know why you're not a Ravenclaw.

Ron looked at me and pushed me slightly with his shoulder, which made me chuckle. When we entered the common room, we saw Harry and Hermione sitting by the fire. It was late, so there was no one else in here.

—It bit me! —Ron pulled his hand out of his pocket and showed it to them.— I won't be able to write in a week. I don't understand why Hagrid thinks that dragons are like teddy bears when they're the worst creatures I've met in my whole life!

—And he also made us leave when Norbert bit Ron because he thought we had scared him. The worst of all is that he was singing him a lullaby when we left. We've lost him.

We heard a little tap in one of the windows, it was Hedwig and she had a letter in her beak. Harry hurried to open the window and grab the letter; it should be Ron's brother answer. We all got closer together around the letter and started to read.

_Dear Ron,_

_I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy to bring it here. I think the best way to do it will be to send him over with some friends who are coming to visit me next week. Problem is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you take the Norwegian Ridgeback to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Charlie W._

Take Norbert to the tallest tower? Without being seen? How are we supposed to do that?

—Well, we have my invisibility cape. It won't be so difficult, it's big enough to cover two people and Norbert.

* * *

I was still sitting with Neville during classes and meals, so I was surprised when the next day we both arrived at Charms classroom and saw Ron's hand all swollen and twice its usual size. I knew he should've gone to the infirmary. He kept going to classes as if nothing had happened, but before Defense Against the Dark Arts started, his hand had turned into an ugly green thing that almost made me want to return my breakfast as soon as I saw it.

When our last class ended, Harry, Hermione and I made a beeline to the infirmary; when we saw Ron, I could tell he had an awful time.

—It's not just my hand, even if it looks like it's going to fall off.

—Looks like? —I whispered.— Ron, I'll be amazed if you still have it tomorrow.

—Shut up, Eileen; Malfoy came with the excuse that he wanted me to lend him a book, he kept laughing at me and then threatened to tell Madam Pomfrey what had bitten me. In the end, I did tell her it was a stray dog.

—Doesn't matter. It'll all end this Saturday at midnight. —Hermione said in an attempt to make him calm down, but it looks like it had the contrary effect, he was so pale you could see his freckles so clearly.

—Oh no! The book that Malfoy took had Charlie's letter inside! Now he'll know when and how we're getting rid of Norbert!

* * *

Tomorrow everything will be over, tomorrow Charlie's friends will come and take Norbert and my life will finally go back to normal, I just need to get to the end of my detention without my dad finding out anything and everything will be okay.

I was walking down the stairs of the Entrance Hall when I saw Roger, he was sitting at the end of the stairs talking with his friends; we still hadn't talked since that day, what am I supposed to do? Should I talk to him? Or just ignore him? What did that kiss mean, for starters? Do his friends know about it? Would he be embarrassed if everyone found out that he not only talks with the daughter of the _bat of the dungeons_ but also that he kissed her? Ugh! Boys are so complicated!

I decided that the best would be to act as if I hadn't seen him, so I walked down the stairs and make my way to the door that leads to the dungeons. I don't know what would be best: if Roger came and talk to me or not. What does it mean, if he doesn't come? Just that he didn't see me, or he regrets doing that?

—Eileen!

I smiled but quickly changed my face before I turned to see Roger; when I turned, I saw him walking towards me and all his friends were looking at me curiously.

—Hi, Roger. —Unconsciously I put a strand of hair behind my ear, what the Nargles am I doing? I've never cared how my hair looks like. It has always been straight, horrible and greasy and will always be like that.

—Hey… —He smiled and started to mess up his hair with his right hand. He looks so cute when he does that.— Where are you going? Want me to accompany you?

—I don't really think you want to come, I'm headed to my dad's office for detention.

—No problem, I'll go with you.

He opened the door for me and waited until I walked in, we started to walk down the stairs and could feel his hand touching mine sometimes, but he never tried to grab it.

—How are your detentions going?

—Awful, really… One time he made me squish insects and he knows how much I hate them.

—I'm sorry to hear that. But hey, at least the year is almost over, so it'll be over soon.

We got to my dad's office, but I just stood still, in front of the door, I didn't want to get inside and didn't want to stop talking with Roger.

—Hey, about the other day... —He couldn't finish what he was about to say, because the door opened suddenly, and my dad was standing there. Seriously! It looks like he's a spy and is always listening to everything!— Oh, ah… Good day, Professor Snape.

—Good day, Mr Davies. Eileen, inside.

I sighed and quickly smiled at Roger; really, my dad couldn't have opened the door at the worst moment.

—See you, Roger.

—Good luck, Eileen.

I entered his office and stood still in front of my dad's desk, I felt a little bit more relaxed because the day when I had to handle the insects, the jars were on top of the desk and today there was nothing.

—I did not know Davies was your friend.

I heard the door closed and then his steps getting closer to me; as I've been doing these days, I just kept quiet, looking at the papers on his desk.

He sat in his usual chair and could feel his gaze on me, I didn't think he would try to enter my mind at this moment, but I still started to empty my mind of any thought I could have.

—I hope that, unlike the twins, Mr Davies will finally make you see reason and stop fooling around. —Come on, Eileen, just ignore him.— I don't appreciate that you keep ignoring me like that, when are you going to understand that this is for your own good?

When he realized that I wasn't going to answer, he just sighed and with a movement of his wand, I heard a door unlock.

—Go to the classroom, clean everything.

I walked to the potions classroom and saw the thousands of cauldrons around me, I pulled two hair ties our of my pockets, the weather these days has been a little warm, so now I carried a couple of them in case I started to feel hot and wanted to fix my hair.

After putting my hair in two ponytails, I walked up to the cauldrons and started to clean them. Some of them were easy to clean but others looked like they were used to create the stickiest potion in the world, it didn't matter how much I scrubbed, what was in there wouldn't come out.

I heard the door opening and I saw my dad enter but I didn't pay him any attention, I didn't have anything to say to him and also this wouldn't come out, what the Nargles is this? Is this gum?

Ew! I think it is gum! I don't understand why they do this.

—I have noticed that you have spent more time with your… Friends, Potter, Granger and Weasley, I assume that something good happened between you to get back together?

—Where's Draco? I thought he was supposed to have his detention with me. —Well done, Eileen, that will make him forget about the other thing and have fewer probabilities of finding out about the dragon.

—That is right, he had his detention last Friday with you.

—Wait… Are you saying that…? He could've _killed me_ and only gets _one_ detention while I go to a village that's completely safe and I get weekly detention for the rest of the year?

—You went twice.

—That doesn't matter! I never put anyone's life at risk! It's not fair! You've always been so unfair to me! —I had my fist clenched with so much force that I could feel my nails digging into the palm of my hand.— I hate you! I wish you were gone far away, and mum were here!

He didn't say anything, I could feel the tears in my eyes, with my right arm I cleaned them before they fell; I dropped the cauldron I was holding into the floor and left running from his office, I could hear his voice calling me but it was fading with every step. I don't care now about the big problem I just got myself into but I couldn't stand being with him right now.

I entered the nearest bathroom I could find and started to clean my hands, they were still covered with soap and Merlin knows what else; I didn't want to, but I started to cry.

—Eileen?

I got scared when I heard someone saying my name that I even splashed some water over my clothes, I thought that my dad had somehow managed to get into the girls' bathroom, but when I looked in the mirror, I saw Hermione standing behind me. I splashed some water over my face to try and cover the fact that I was crying but it didn't work, my eyes were still a little bit red.

—I know, I'll talk with Draco about tomorrow, you don't have to worry.

I closed the sink handle and walked to the door, but Hermione was closer to it, so she closed it and leaned against the door to avoid me getting out.

—We need to talk, Eileen.

—There's nothing to talk about, now, could you please let me leave?

—No. I want to know why you were crying.

—It's not enough for you to be an insufferable know-it-all in classes? Now you also want to be an insufferable know-it-all in my life? —I could see in her eyes that she was hurt, but still stood still leaning against the door.— I'm sorry, I just… I'm having a pretty awful year that gets worse with each day.

I sat, leaning my back against the wall and she did the same, we were in silence for a couple of seconds when I finally decided to tell her about everything; the detentions with my dad, the reason why I was having detention (without mentioning Occlumency, of course), why I wasn't allowed to talk to the twins anymore, what Draco did and the simple detention he got, and I also decided to tell her about the kiss with Roger because I had no one else to talk to and I was going crazy.

—I think… Maybe detention every week is a little too much, but I think that Professor Snape did it because he worries about you and well, of course, he does, you're his daughter, his only daughter. That's just how parents are, Eileen.

—But my Aunt and Uncle have never been like that. Never, since I have memory have they punished Draco for doing something wrong, my dad was the only one that would punish us when we were at my place and he was always harsher with me than him. Sometimes I feel like he hates me…

Someone started knocking at the door, but we both ignored it.

—Just because the Malfoys never punish him doesn't mean that that was okay, Eileen. And Professor Snape doesn't hate you, on the contrary.

—Open the door! I need to go to the bathroom! —Someone kept knocking at the door and when we finally got up from the floor and let her in, the poor Hufflepuff girl ran to one of the bathrooms.

—So… Do you like Roger Davies?

—I don't know, I've never liked someone in that way.

—Me neither.

I didn't know what else to say, I suddenly felt a little bit uncomfortable talking about him, so I just shut my mouth and we walked in silence up to Gryffindor Tower, she went to sit with Harry and I decided to take a nap, I always feel sleepy after crying.

* * *

—All right, this is the plan. —Harry said as soon as the last person in the common room left.— Eileen, you are going to look for Malfoy and distract him long enough while we take Norbert up to the Astronomy Tower.

—Great. Try to do it as fast as you can, I don't think I can distract him for a long time.

The three of us left the common room under Harry's invisibility cape; when we got to the corridor that led to the Astronomy Tower I got out of the cape and started to look for Draco.

After a while, I heard him talking with someone.

—But it's true, professor! Potter will come here with a dragon!

Just at that moment, I heard something making noise and after spending so many days feeding Norbert, I knew it was him making that noise, and that meant that Harry and Hermione were already here.

—Who's there? —McGonagall asked, pointing with her wand to somewhere close to where I was, illuminating the floor in front of me (I suppose she was using _Lumos_ ) and then I heard some steps, and if she gets closer, she will definitely find out about Norbet. There's no other option.

—It's me. —I said, coming out of the statue from where I was hiding and standing in front of the light, it was so bright I had to cover my eyes with one arm.

—Miss Snape! What are you doing here? It's midnight!

—I was… Uhm…

—She also knows about the dragon! Isn't that right, Leen?

—Yes! I was… Uhm… I heard Harry saying that they would take the dragon to the dungeons instead of the Astronomy Tower and let it free close to the Slytherin common room, that's why I came, to warn Draco.

—I'm extremely disappointed, Miss Snape, you should know that there's not a chance of a dragon being here in Hogwarts. Miss Snape, you will wait for me in my office while I take Mister Malfoy to talk with Professor Snape. Follow me.

Draco and I started to walk behind her; I just hope that Harry and Hermione don't have another trouble while giving Norbert to Charlie.


	24. Year One - Chapter Twenty Four

I was sitting in one of the chairs of McGonagall's office, it was a small office with a large fireplace, and I could see the Quidditch pitch from here, lit only by the light of the moon. McGonagall left me here to take Draco with my dad, I was surprised that she didn't just take me with him but I'm eternally grateful to her.

I was debating for a while if I should just stay here or leave and got to Gryffindor Tower, McGonagall will forget this in the morning, right? And I don't have classes with her until Tuesday, maybe if I take food out of the kitchens and avoid her the rest of the week, she'll forget this…

I tried to open the door and I wasn't surprised that it was locked, I pulled my wand out of my sock (I was wearing high socks only so that they could hold my wand because my pyjama didn't have pockets) and pointed it to the door, whispering _Alohomora_ and as expected, it didn't work, there must be some kind of advanced spell in the lock… She must have thought I would try to leave, how little trust she has in me!

I heard some steps outside of the office, so I quickly ran to sit back in the chair, hitting my left leg against a table. Judging from the sound, it was more than one person, Merlin, I hope it's not McGonagall with my dad!

The door opened and I have never felt more relieved to hear Filch's voice, talking to someone else saying that they should wait here for McGonagall; looks like someone else was outside roaming the castle. Which is a good thing because if Filch is here and McGonagall is down in the dungeons, there was no-one who could catch…

—Harry? Hermione? —Hermione sat down next to me and Harry sat down next to her. She was so pale and shaking. I waited until Filch left to say something again. —What are you doing here? How did Filch catch you? Didn't you have the cape? Oh no! Did he saw Norbert?

—Don't worry, Eileen. —Harry said. It wasn't until he said that that I noticed I was holding my breath.— We managed to give Norbert to Charlie, but we forgot the cape in the tower.

The door opened again, and I heard a small squeal that Hermione made, so I grabbed her left hand with mine. Poor thing, I guess it's her first detention, and if they find out about Norbert, they won't hesitate to expel us.

—Harry!

—Neville? —I said confused, but he ignored me. What is he doing here?

—I was trying to find you and warn you about Malfoy, he said you had a dragon…

Harry shook his head to shut Neville up, but McGonagall still noticed, and she looked like she could spit fire at any moment, I wonder if she's half-dragon…

—I would have never believed it of any of you. Mr Filch said that you were in the Astronomy Tower. It's one in the morning. I want an explanation.

Hermione kept staring at the floor, and I started to feel her hand colder every moment that passed, is it because of the temperature in here or because she's scared? Doesn't matter, I gave a little squeeze to her hand and that made her relax just a little bit.

—I think I have an idea of what happened. You made up a story about some dragon so that Mr Malfoy would be out of bed and got into trouble. And you also thought it would be funny that Mr Longbottom and Miss Snape heard the story and fall for it as well, right?

I was surprised to hear that she thinks I wasn't involved in any of this, maybe I can manage to get out of this without detention…

—I'm disgusted. Five students out of bed in one night. Five! I've never heard of such thing before! Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense, and you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this… Even you, Miss Snape, I know you have detention for the rest of the year, do you want them to keep up to your second year? The four of you will have detention… Yes, you too, Mr Longbottom and Miss Snape, nothing justifies that you're walking around the school during the night, especially these days, it's too dangerous… And 40 points will be taken from Gryffindor.

—40?

—40 each, Potter.

—But…

—Professor, you can't…

—Don't tell me what I can or can't do. Go back to bed, I'm extremely disappointed in all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students.

I got up from my seat and Hermione was still sitting, too shocked to process what McGonagall had just told us, so I grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the office, she never let go of my hand until we walked into our room; the second I opened the door she ran and jumped into her bed, closing the curtains around her bed.

From time to time I could hear her sobbing.

* * *

The next day was relatively normal and quiet, I spent all day in the library, no one knew what had happened to our points, but it wasn't until Monday during breakfast that the story had spread all over the school, now everyone knew that we had lost 160 points, leaving Slytherin in the first place for the House Cup.

On my way to the Great Hall, the Slytherins keep applauding me and saying things.

—Thanks, Snape! We knew you were a true snake!

—What a great strategy. —Said Tyler Blake, a fourth-year Slytherin while patting my back.— To get into Gryffindor and sabotage them

All the Slytherins that were around started to laugh, the worst of all? Roger was walking out of the Hall at that exact moment, he looked at me and was extremely disappointed and kept walking with his friends.

Should I follow him?

—Roger!

But he ignored me and kept walking, I hit Blake in the stomach with my elbow and walked into the Great Hall before he could do something to me; I sat next to Neville, he wasn't eating, he was only moving the food around his plate with a fork.

—Hi, Neville. —He murmured something, I didn't understand what he said but sounded close to _'hi Eileen'_ so I think he doesn't mind me sitting with him.— So, are you excited about today's Herbology lesson? Remember that today we'll learn about Bouncing Bulbs and I remember you told me you were pretty excited.

—I guess…

Poor Neville, it looks like losing so many points affected him a lot. I started to spread some butter in my toast, I didn't know what to do to cheer Neville up. If talking about Herbology didn't work, I don't think something else will work.

—Eileen…

—Mmh? —I turned to see him with my mouth full of toast. I think I'm finally forgetting the manners that Aunt Cissy taught me.

—Why did you do that?

—Wha-? —I tried to talk with my mouth full, but I almost choke with the food and started to cough, Neville gave me a glass full of milk and I drank it in seconds. — What do you mean?

—Why did you make me believe there was a dragon?

—Oh, Nev… —I looked around to check if someone was listening, but classes were about to start soon so the table was a little bit empty. Still, I didn't want to take a risk so I started to whisper.— None of that was a lie, there was really a dragon here, if you don't believe me, you can ask Hagrid.

I don't know how to read the look on his face, I don't know if he was relieved or angrier, so I decided to shut up and keep eating my breakfast; Neville had already finished his and kept staring at the table. When I finished I put a hand on his shoulder and I spoke to him as nice as I could.

—Let's go, Nev, it's almost time to go to class.

He sighed, but the important thing is that he listened to me and got up, grabbing his bag. We were about to walk down the stairs in the Entrance Hall when I saw my dad talking with McGonagall, it looked like they were having a pretty strong discussion.

—Oh no.

—What's wrong, Leen?

—There's my dad speaking with McGonagall. If he sees me I have no doubt that he'll try to talk to me and give me detention for the rest of my life.

—Oh… —Neville turned to see where they were and then looked at me again.— We could take another route, but we wouldn't get on time to class.

—I don't know… Oh, I have an idea!

I grabbed my back and put it in front of my face. If I walk like this next to them, they won't know who it is, right?

—Is this your idea? —Neville said.— I don't think it's going to work…

—I said I had an idea, never said it was a good one. I don't think it's going to work either, but we don't have time to wait for them to leave. You can go first if you want, there's no reason for them to stop you and try to talk to you.

I lowered my bag to see him and smiled wide when I saw that he was also covering his face with his bag. Carefully we walked down the stairs and tried to stay as far away as possible from them.

—Eileen!

How did he know it's me?

—No, I'm not Eileen. —I said and I heard Neville chuckling.— Come one, Nev!

I grabbed his hand and started running, I let go of his hand when I knew that he would keep running and I didn't stop until I started to see the greenhouse and I fell to the ground, laughing; Neville did the same and we stopped after a while.

—I can't believe you ignored Professor Snape…

—It's my dad, I've been ignoring him for a long time. Let's go, we only have 5 minutes before class starts.

We walked up to the greenhouse and I sat next to Hermione, it was the only place empty, and Neville sat down next to me. Hermione still looked really sad about what happened, but I'm sure that when Professor Sprout starts asking questions, she'll forget about it and she'll be the same know-it-all again.

—Good day, children. As I mentioned the other day, today we'll learn about Bouncing Bulbs, but this is only a theoretical lesson, you'll handle them in your fourth year. —Some people (including me) let out a moan of disappointment.— But first, can someone tell how big can a Bouncing Bulb grow?

I knew the answer, but I didn't bother to try and raise my hand, I knew that Hermione already had her hand up even before Sprout had finished her question.

—No one?

Wait, what? I turned to see Hermione and she was only looking at her book, with her hands over her legs. I slowly raised my hand, I wanted to answer but at the same time, it felt weird that it was me and not Hermione the one answering.

—Ah, yes, Miss Snape?

—Uhm, a mature Bouncing Bulb can reach the size of doorways.

—Excellent, 5 points for Gryffindor.

I smiled and that cheered me up, maybe things won't be that bad and everyone will stop ignoring me if I manage to get enough points to get close to Slytherin… Even if it looks impossible.


	25. Year One - Chapter Twenty Five

When Herbology ended, Neville, Hermione and I went to the library to study for the upcoming exams because we only had one week left. Before leaving the greenhouse, I had to grab Hermione by her hand and drag her out of there. I was starting to worry, she wasn't answering questions in class and I think she isn't even paying attention, she never realized when classes had ended.

We were about to cross the corridor that leads to the library when I heard some voices fighting, and yes, with my luck, the voices belong to my dad and McGonagall. How is it possible that I keep finding my dad in a castle with a thousand corridor?

We weren't in a hurry to get to the library, so we stopped in the hall to listen to what they were saying and waiting for them to leave.

—How can you give them that kind of detention? They are roaming the castle in the night like every other student and you think it's a good idea to send them there? How come fifteen years ago you only decided to take points off those four and made them clean the castle!?

What is my dad talking about? What happened fifteen years ago?

—Severus, please, you should let that in the past. I already decided it and Dumbledore agrees with me. Yes, I know that all the students get out of their common room after curfew but we both know that these times are dangerous.

— **We** know that: they don't. I'm her father and I won't let her go in there. Not only is dangerous but she is completely afraid of going in there.

—And I'm her Head of House, as long as she's in Gryffindor, she'll have to follow my orders. If she were a Slytherin, things could've been different…

—I won't let you send my daughter to the forbidden forest just for detention. It's forbidden for one reason!

—Severus, please, it's not like they're going alone, Hagrid will be with them.

—Hagrid wouldn't recognize danger even if it were in front of him.

—Severus… —McGonagall stayed quiet for a moment, as if she were thinking of the right words to say.— I understand you, but I can't just give her special treatment just because she's the daughter of a professor, word would spread and all the parents will want their kids to be treated differently just because they have high positions in the Ministry of Magic.

—I am not asking you not to send only my daughter, I am asking you not to send any of them. They are first years! It's… It's crazy, Minerva.

I started to feel a little bit dizzy, I was just starting to process that it's very likely that we're going to the forbidden forest as detention. I was terrified, dad always told me several times since I can remember how dangerous it is to go there and he told me all the types of dangerous creatures that live there; he did a damn good job of keeping me from ever even thinking about going there.

—Eileen. —Hermione whispered.— Are you all right? You look a little pale.

—I'm… Yeah, I'm fine… —I started to breathe deeply, trying to calm myself; when I finally got it, I noticed that the corridor was really quiet, so my dad and McGonagall must have left already.— Come on, looks like they left already, we can go to the library now.

I grabbed Hermione's hand again, I don't know if I'm doing it to make her follow us or because I needed to hold her; just at the moment we turned the corner, I hit something soft and didn't need to look up to know that it was my dad. Someone should write a book about all the bad things that happen to me.

I looked up to see my dad, waiting for him to simply ignore us and leave, I noticed that his eyes looked at my hand for a couple of seconds, the one that was still holding Hermione's hand but he didn't say anything, only arched a brow and quickly went back to his emotionless face and looked me in the eyes.

—Eileen, I need to speak with you.

—Now? Because the exams are next week and…

—Now.

He left walking slower than usual, I guess he's doing it because he knows that he walks a lot faster than me and I have trouble keeping up with him. I said goodbye to Hermione and Neville and went behind him.

The long (although not that long, but it felt that way) walk to his office was a little bit uncomfortable, I wasn't sure if I should say something or if it was better to say nothing; I hate that I can never tell what he's thinking. Maybe I should start learning Legilimency.

We got inside of his office and he immediately went to sit at his usual chair in front of his desk, I stood still in front of the door, looking at the floor.

—So? —I looked to see him and he had his elbows resting on the desk, and with his hands was rubbing his temple, I guess he has a headache (or is going to have one soon).— Don't you think to sit down?

I quickly sat in the usual chair; it's an extremely bad idea to make him get mad when he's having a headache, although lately I've been having extremely bad ideas and I've made him get angry more times than I can remember, I wonder if my life would be different had I been a Slytherin, is it possible to ask for a change of house? Although with all the stupid things I've been doing these past months, looks like I'm really a Gryffindor.

—What were you thinking, walking around the castle at one in the morning?

—You've said so yourself, we Gryffindors don't think. —Great done, Eileen, keep digging your own grave.

—Eileen Evan Snape, I have tried in so many ways to make you understand that you cannot be doing whatever you want whenever you want, what do I have to do so that you can understand that? What do I have to do so that your little head remembers to think before you act?

I don't know what's worse, the fact that he used my full name or that he's not screaming.

—When I think you finally understand it and start acting really mature for your age, you always end up doing some… Stupidity that makes me think you are five years old again. Tell me, what do I have to do for you to understand?

—I have been talking with Narcissa these days, —He kept talking when he knew I wasn't going to say something.— We are already doing the process to transfer you to Durms—

—NO! You **can't** do that!

—Then start behaving yourself and stop doing acting like a five-year-old. The next time you do something, no matter how small it is what you do, I will transfer you without telling you. Understood?

—Yes, dad… I… I'm sorry… —My voice was breaking, but I wasn't going to cry. I don't want to cry.— I promise you I won't do anything ever again.

—I know you won't do anything because you are going to be here all the time that you are not in class. You will study here for your exams so that you don't distract yourself with anything.

—But—!

—Do you want to go to Durmstrang?

—No…

I got up and sat on the only couch in here, taking out my Transfiguration book. I don't think I'll ever understand my father, sometimes I feel that he punishes me a lot for small things and sometimes I feel like I'm only a burden for him.

Maybe my life will be different, better, in another school? I think that my only friend here is Neville… I don't even talk with Draco anymore and it's all because I'm a stupid Gryffindor, why did the dumb hat decide to send me there instead of Slytherin?

No, come on, Eileen, concentrate and pay attention, _Reparifarge_ is the spell used to turn something back to its original form…

* * *

I got bored of studying and now I was only doodling in my book, the clock in front of the chimney marked 5:30, I have absolutely no idea when my dad is going to let me leave, probably when dinner starts, but what if he makes me have dinner here?

I really wanted to take a nap, maybe he won't notice if I fall asleep for a couple of minutes anyway, he's too busy with whatever he's reading. I closed my eyes and was starting to fall asleep when I heard flames, so I opened my eyes, how did he manage to find out about it so quickly?

Luckily it wasn't him the one who created the flames, but the chimney in the room had the typical green flames created with Floo Powder and a piece of paper was launched from there. My dad waved lazily his wand and the paper went flying to him (I'm assuming he used _Accio_ ) and started to read it; when he finished, he growled and looked at me, what did I do now?

—It's for you.

For me? I put the book I was 'reading' on the couch and got up, when I got close to his desk I grabbed the paper from his hand and started to read it, hating every word I was reading.

_Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Mr Filch will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall._

_Professor McGonagall._

—So, are we really going to the f-forbidden forest?

—So, you did hear that part…

—D-dad I can't go there, and you know it. —Ever since he started to tell me about all the dangerous things that live there, that has been my greatest fear so far, I even had nightmares for a while, so I started to cry and my hands were shaking.— I-I still remember all the things you said that live there… The centaurs and the… The werewolves… Please, dad, do something.

The tears were blocking my view, but I could still see him getting up from his chair and getting close to me, I was surprised when I felt his arms around me so I hugged him tightly, like if nothing could hurt me as long as I was hugging him.

—I know, I… —He started to stroke my hair and I relaxed just a little bit.— I really tried that you, all of you, had another detention but Dumbledore insisted that that would be a good lesson for all of you. Draco included.

—Draco? But… Why? Aren't you the one who's supposed to decide his detention as his Head of House?

I was still hugging him, so my voice sounded a bit muffled, but I'm sure he heard me anyway.

—Yes, that is one of the things the Head of House is for, but those were Dumbledore's orders. I am afraid the years are finally catching up to him. —I chuckled at that and even though I couldn't see him, I knew that he was smiling.— I am afraid I cannot do something to avoid you going there, but at least I can give you a Calming Draught so that you can be calm.

—I shouldn't take it, right? That's not what Gryffindors do, I'm supposed to be brave.

—Eileen. —He stopped hugging me and he got on one knee so that he could be at my height and look me straight in the eyes, he had his hands on my shoulders and was squeezing them a little.— One thing is being brave and another thing is being foolish, you are not less brave just because you are scared. Admitting that you are scared is a very brave thing to do. Just because you are a Gryffindor does not mean that you must jump to danger without thinking about the consequences. Is it clear?

—Yes, dad.

—Good. —Before getting up on his feet, he gave me a quick (and extremely rare) kiss on my forehead and then walked to the cabinet at the end of his office.— I am sure I have here all the ingredients to prepare a Calming Draught, do you want to wait here, studying, or want to help me prepare it?

—I want to help!

I ran to his workshop before he could change his mind, it was also rare, the moments that he would let me help him make potions, especially when they were complicated; after putting my hair in a high ponytail, I helped him collect all the ingredients and we spent the rest of the day making the potion.


End file.
